Television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz had to walk back his recommendation that schools re-open at the expense of some children dying after receiving online blowback.
Dr. Oz made the original comments on Fox News with Sean Hannity.
“Well first, we need our mojo back,” said Oz.
“Let’s start with things that are really critical to the nation where we think we might be able to open without getting into a lot of trouble,” he explained.
“Schools are a very appetizing opportunity. I just saw a nice piece in The Lancet arguing that the opening of schools may only cost us 2 to 3%, in terms of total mortality,” Oz continued.
“Any, you know, any life is a life lost,” he added, “but to get every child back into a school where they’re safely being getting educated, being fed, and making the most out of their lives, with a theoretical risk on the backside, that might be a tradeoff some folks would consider.”
Critics were quick to pounce on his comments and criticize him for saying it would be reasonable tradeoff to lose 2% or 3% of school children in order to re-open the economy.
He said that he misspoke in a Twitter video he posted on Thursday.
“I’ve realized my comments on risks around opening schools have confused and upset people, which was never my intention. I misspoke,” said Oz in the video.
“As a heart surgeon, I spent my career fighting to save lives in the operating room by minimizing risks. At the same time, I’m being asked constantly, how will we be able to get people back to their normal lives. To do that, one of the important steps will be figuring out how do we get our children safely back to school,” he explained.
“We know for many kids school is a place of security, nutrition and learning that is missing right now,” he added. “These are issues we are all wrestling with, and I’ll continue looking for solutions that beat this virus.”
Also on Thursday, President Donald Trump revealed guidelines for the states to re-open the economy from the coronavirus lockdown in a safe manner.
Here’s more about the comments from Dr. Oz:
[embedded content] Dr. Gupta reacts to Dr. Oz citing new data on Fox News www.youtube.com
