kids back into the classroom. the cdc is advising 3 feet of distancing instead of 6 feet for most students as long as masks and other measures are in place and depending on the community rates. joining me, andy slavitt who heads the covid response team. many states regardless are relaxing restrictions as cnn s alex alexandra field reports. k to 12 schools that operate safety can open. reporter: if even is masked, just 3 feet of students down from 6. the bottom line is there never was very good evidence for doing it alt 6 feet, not if kids are masked up. reporter: it s not clear how soon schools will implement changes as one said they ll, quote, reserve judgment. the push across the country accelerating as the new covid-19 cases hold steady. fewer than 55,000 new cases daily. still, alabama is one of the latest states moving ahead with plans to eliminate a mask mandate. the actual legal krgs of making it a mandate or not, you know, is not up to me, but we, you know,
testing. it s going to help us accelerate our nationwide effort to reopen schools safely. last week i directed all states, tribes and territories to make all adults eligible to be vaccinated no later than may 1. while this is a time of optimism, it s not a time for relaxation. i need all americans to keep doing your part. wash your hands, stay socially distanced, keep masking up as recommended by the cdc and get vaccinated when it s your turn. none of this is political. it s all science based. but now is not the time to let our guard down. that is science based as well. in the last week we ve seen increases in the number of cases in several states. things may get worse as new variants of the virus spread. that s why we need to vaccinate as many people as quickly as we possibly can, because the best thing we can do to fight back against these variants. we have to beat this virus. we have to and we will, but we ll do it by setting aside politics and embracing science. another s
announcer: live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom with robyn curnow. despite condemnations from the u.n. and major world powers, myanmar s military crackdown on protesters is only getting bloodier and more dangerous. a human rights group says as least 38 demonstrators were killed on sunday. it is the deadliest day so far since last month s coup. and there could be more deaths we just don t know about. the military junta has now declared martial law in six districts of yang orngs which is myanmar s largest city. i want to go straight to our paula hancocks who s been monitoring all of these latest developments and of course this increase in violence on the streets against protesters. what more can you tell us? hi, paula. reporter: well, robyn, it s very clear to everybody that the level of force that security forces are now using against protesters is increasing. it is definitely on the rise. as you say, yesterday being the deadliest day so far that we know of since
history last night at the grammy awards . we begin with a new push from the white house to raise awareness for its recently passed covid relief package. president joe biden and others will be crossing the country starting today as a help is here tour. supportive voices are already outlining its benefits as part of the messaging blitz. the fact is, it s strongly bipartisan across the country. it s only in the congress of the united states where the republicans refused to meet the needs of the american people where they didn t vote, as i said, voted no and take the dow. you can be sure all their states and communities will be benefitting from this and they won t be complaining about it back home. and the treasury secretary is trying to calm concerns that it could lead to major inflation. the most significant risk we face is the work force scorned by a long period of unemployment. people being out of work and not able to find jobs can have a permanent effect on their wel
at our front door never stopped. the donald trump administration didn t stop them. i am pamela brown in washington. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. you are live in the cnn newsroom on this sunday. in florida, brspring breakers a cutting loose after a year of lockdowns and quarantines, and health experts warn highly contagious variants rapidly can spread. joe johns has more on the collision offing spring break and the pandemic. that s true, pamela. good evening. the cdc said there s about 4,900 cases involving variants that have been spotted all around the country, but the biggest concern right now at least this weekend at least is there could be a spike in the numbers because spring break is upon us. spring break in south florida where college students might not be the only ones hitting the beaches. experts fear covid-19 and variants of the virus are coming, too. as the decline in cases across the country starts to level off. even tho