Dr. Anthony Fauci, testifies during a US Senate Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing in Washington, DC, on September 23, 2020. GRAEME JENNINGS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said that bars should be closed as a way to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 infections, allowing children to safely return to their classrooms. "Close the bars and keep the schools open," Fauci said to host Martha Raddatz on ABC's "This Week." "If you look at the data, the spread among children and from children is not really very big at all, not like one would have suspected," Fauci added. On Sunday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that pre-K programs and elementary schools in the nation's largest public school system would reopen for in-person instruction on December 7. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Dr.