Education Secretary Miguel Cardona stressed the need to keep schools open for in-person learning despite an increase in coronavirus cases caused largely by the omicron variant.

Cardona’s words during an interview with “Fox News Sunday” came as many schools across the country are set to close at the end of the winter break. According to the Burbio Schools Tracking Database, more than 2,100 schools will be closed this week, despite the government’s stance.

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“We have been very clear, our expectation is for schools to be open full time for students for in-person learning,” Cardona said. “We remember the impact of school closures on students last year.”

Besides the negative impact of distance education, Cardona highlighted the progress made in the fight against COVID-19, noting that “our science is better” and “we have better tools”, such as 10 billion dollars for surveillance tests provided by the American Rescue Plan. and vaccines available for children 5 years and older.

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Cardona said schools should have strategies in place to test students with symptoms, but American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten said that might not be possible everywhere.

“I’m concerned that many districts don’t have the infrastructure to test and test to stay,” Weingarten said according to the Washington Post. “It’s going to be really, really bumpy and it’s going to take a lot of grace.”

Cardona acknowledged that “there may be obstacles on the road”, but he was specifically addressing schools that may have to close temporarily due to understaffing.

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“But the goal is full-time face-to-face learning for our students,” he said. “They have suffered enough.

“We are going to roll up our sleeves, all on deck,” he added. “Let’s keep our kids in class. This should be our default way of thinking and when problems arise we must come together to solve them. “