WASHINGTON — Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb says schools should try to reopen this fall, but need to pay attention to the situation in their specific community. “In states where there is relative control of the infection, I think they absolutely should go ahead and open the schools,” Gottlieb said. “In states where it’s widely epidemic, I think that it could be difficult.” Gottlieb made his remarks while taking questions about the coronavirus from Nebraskans during a Wednesday evening teleconference hosted by Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb. Reopening schools should be a priority for policymakers, Gottlieb said, not just for educational reasons but also for socialization needs. But schools have to find ways to prevent outbreaks and protect their teachers, he said. And he urged caution when asked about studies showing children don’t have much to worry about from the virus. It’s still possible for kids to get the disease and pass it on, after all. “Less risky, less susceptible doesn’t mean no risk and no susceptibility,” Gottlieb said. “Kids will get it, kids will spread it, kids will have bad outcomes with it.” There is still much that is unknown about the virus, he noted, and things that experts thought they knew six weeks ago are now in question. “We have to have a degree of humility about this,” he said. “And what that means in my view is — take precautions. I think schools should try to open, but I think that they should be humble about the risks and do what they can to mitigate the risks.” Gottlieb fielded a slew of virus-related questions from those on the call: Once you have the virus can you catch it again? Short answer — yes. Should those at high risk get tested even if they have no symptoms and no reason to think they’ve been exposed? Probably not. Gottlieb said overall that controlling the virus could come down to individual action — everyday people taking the proper precautions to stop its spread. The death rate from the virus is now falling as health care providers figure out how to treat the disease with steroids, blood thinners and antiviral medications, he said. But the overall number of deaths is likely to surge upward now with so many new cases in certain states. “The optimistic piece of this is that we’re doing a better job of preserving life, and so long as we can keep the health care system from becoming overwhelmed and make sure the hospitals have capacity, we’re going to see better outcomes,” Gottlieb said. “The pessimistic piece of it is that we do have pretty big epidemics in these states and it’s going to take time to get control of them and it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”