With most Iowa schools scheduled to start the next academic year in less than a month, many families are trying to figure out the risk of their children contracting COVID-19. After all, the vaccines are not yet approved for kids under 12 and there is an uptick in Iowa of cases believed to be connected to the more contagious Delta variant.

U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks said July 14 on “The Evening Edit,” a show on Fox Business, that “we have known for over a year that children don’t transmit the virus.” She went on to say kids should be able to attend summer camps, play sports and go back to school without masks.

Miller-Meeks, a Republican representing Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, made a similar statement July 12 on Twitter: “Elementary age students rarely die or are seriously ill and don’t transmit virus to adults or other children.”

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We give statements grades from A to F based on accuracy and context.

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This Fact Checker was researched and written by Erin Jordan of The Gazette. The podcast episode is hosted by Erin Jordan and co-hosted by Michaela Ramm, John Steppe, and Marissa Payne. The Fact Checker podcast is produced by Stephen M. Colbert and music is Lobby Time by Kevin MacLeod

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