Make Grand Empty Promises First, Ask Questions Later

A good idea, until it became clear no one could possibly do it:

Health and education officials canceled a recommendation yesterday that called for scrubbing schools daily in the wake of the “superbug” scare, but admitted they don’t have a concrete plan to handle new infections.

News of the death of Omar Rivera, a 12-year-old Brooklyn boy, of an antibiotic-resistant staph infection prompted both agencies to send out a joint advisory last Friday.

It called for all schools to “clean ‘flat surfaces’ every day. This includes desktops, cafeteria tables, door knobs, toilet seats, sinks and drinking fountains.”

But speaking on WNYC radio yesterday, Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said washing every school desk every day isn’t needed to stop the spread of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as MRSA.

The desk-cleaning advisory was removed from the Department of Health’s Web site.

“It was an error on the part of the department, and when it was brought to our attention, we removed it,” Frieden later told The Post.

And now you tell us:

Frieden further downplayed worries about MRSA. He noted that the only place it spreads in schools is on sports teams, and that regular hand-washing is the best prevention.

“I think the only thing close to reaching epidemic proportions here is fear,” he said.