A former head of the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday called on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to rethink its guidance on how schools contain COVID-19. To start, he suggested the CDC withdraw its support for student mask mandates.

“We’re going to probably have to tolerate, and probably should, a higher level of baseline spread at the point at which we consider withdrawing some of this mitigation,” Gottlieb, a current board member at COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer Pfizer, told CNBC.

Gottlieb said the U.S. should not wait until the number of cases reaches fewer than 10 cases per 100,000 people per day -- the CDC's baseline for relaxing mask policies. By acting sooner, Gottlieb said that the move can go some way in returning daily life to some sense of normalcy without jeopardizing the health of students, teachers, or staff.

“If we hold out again — if we wait for 10 cases per 100,000 per day in most communities — we’re probably going to be waiting until the summer; we’re going to lose the opportunity this spring to try to return some sense of normalcy in the schools,” said Gottlieb.

The subject of student mask mandates has been politically contentious since students first began returning to the classroom after over a year of remote learning. Some states, led by Republican officials like Texas and Florida, forbid school districts from requiring student mask mandates, prompting court battles.

The Biden administration has opposed these moves and has responded with lawsuits while directing funds to schools deprived of the state funds over their mask mandates.

Gottlieb’s suggestion is based on available research that shows children are at decreased risk of contracting a severe case of COVID-19.

However, the Omicron variant has driven up the number of pediatric hospitalizations across the nation, according to a report in January by the American Association of Pediatrics.

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