[mathdev]

> Either in-person classes are safe, and the rules can go back to pre-pandemic, or they aren't, and forcing students and professors to attend them is dangerous and cruel.

Actually, in-person classes are completely safe and this is a gentle nudge from the federal administration to make the universities reconsider their (completely political) decision to not resume normal classes this Fall.

[the_benno]

This is an awfully confident statement that is unsupported by available evidence on covid transmission and health risks. On what basis do you say that in person classes are completely safe when reopening of indoor spaces has led to massive upticks in infections across much of the US?

[SamReidHughes]

It is certainly confident, but it is also supported -- modulo "completely" -- by our understanding of how effective masks are supposed to be, and infection rates in certain other (mask-wearing) countries.

[burkaman]

There's nothing I can say to this argument. Good luck out there, and please be kind to your neighbors who are still wearing masks and staying home.

[tehjoker]

Next time the government threatens to arrest you and throw you out of the country, let me know if you consider this "gentle".