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Posted: 2020-08-17T02:36:34Z | Updated: 2020-08-17T02:36:34Z

The former head of the Food and Drug Administration criticized Donald Trump s son-in-law Jared Kushner for casually comparing COVID-19 to the common flu during an interview Sunday.

We need to be careful about making comparisons to flu and the death and disease we see in flu relative to COVID, former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said on CBS News Face The Nation.

The number of COVID-19 cases and deaths has remained fairly persistent over the last few weeks, noted Gottlieb, a Republican who served in both the Obama and Trump administrations.

Theres been a fairly persistent level of infection, hospitalizations and deaths over the last couple of weeks, he said. Weve had over a thousand deaths a day for at least two weeks now, over 50,000 infections a day on average.

Gottlieb called out the White House adviser after Kushner said on the same program earlier that he would absolutely send his children back to school this fall. His childrens school , however, will principally use distance learning with some in-person opportunities for outdoor education and community building, according to the schools plan.

Our school is not opening up five days a week; I wish they were, Kushner stated.

WATCH: #JaredKushner tells @margbrennan he's \"not concerned\" about sending his young children #BackToSchool amid the ongoing #coronavirus pandemic pic.twitter.com/hPDYMxNREE

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WATCH: #JaredKushner tells @margbrennan he's "not concerned" about sending his young children #BackToSchool amid the ongoing #coronavirus pandemic pic.twitter.com/hPDYMxNREE

Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) August 16, 2020

Kushner insisted his children have a six times greater risk of dying from the flu as from COVID-19, adding: I dont believe thats a risk. Gottlieb said he had no idea where that figure came from, and Kushner didnt mention a source.

Kushner dismissed the significance of COVID-19 for children just as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Saturday that cases in children 17 and younger have been steadily increasing from March to July . Children can develop severe illness and complications, even if that risk is lower compared to adults, the CDC cautioned.

The CDC also warned that children are just as contagious as adults in spreading the disease to their friends, family members and teachers.

Children likely have the same or higher viral loads ... compared with adults and ... can spread the virus effectively in households and camp settings, states the new CDC guidance.

Hospitalizations of children with COVID-19 is also increasing, according to the CDC. Among those hospitalized, one in three children is admitted to intensive care the same rate adults.

The true incidence of infection among children is unknown because of a lack of widespread testing, the agency warned. Two boys, 15 and 7, died this month of COVID-19 in Georgia, where schools have already reopened.

Theres a lot we dont understand about COVID in kids, Gottlieb cautioned. The disease does not appear to be as prevalent in children as the flu is, he noted. But some 90 children have died from COVID-19, and there have been 570 cases of a severe inflammatory post-viral syndrome linked to COVID-19 in children, he warned.

Gottlieb estimated that there could be as many as 3 million children who have been infected with COVID-19.

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@ScottGottliebMD says Americans need to be \"careful\" in making comparisons of #COVID19 to the flu when it comes to kids, noting flu prevalence is far greater among children:

Fluupwards of 400 deaths a year
COVID-19 90 deaths so far pic.twitter.com/xi6McTsN4B

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@ScottGottliebMD says Americans need to be "careful" in making comparisons of #COVID19 to the flu when it comes to kids, noting flu prevalence is far greater among children:

Fluupwards of 400 deaths a year
COVID-19 90 deaths so far pic.twitter.com/xi6McTsN4B

Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) August 16, 2020

Trump compared COVID-19 to the flu in late March. We have a lot of people dying from the flu , as you know, yet nothing is shut down, he told reporters at the White House.

The CDC has estimated a total of 24,000 to 62,000 deaths from the 2019-2020 flu season , including 169 pediatric deaths. There are now more than 170,000 deaths and growing from COVID-19 in America.

So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2020","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Donald J. Trump","author_url":"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump","cache_age":86400,"description":"So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2020\n\n","options":{"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Donald J. 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So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2020

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