Dropping the school mask mandate and rise in Covid cases - looking at local data

[Anonymous]

Looking at the DC Schools Data, it doesn't seem like dropping the school mask mandate is the cause for the rise in cases. There is no discernible difference between DCPS schools (no mandate) and charters that are still requiring masks. In fact, Capital City, which still has a mandate, has almost as many cases as Wilson, despite having much fewer students.

So here is our real-life, "observational study" with control group, right here in DC, confirming the recent, formal studies out of Spain and Finland. Mask mandates in schools don't work. (Which doesn't mean that protecting yourself with a tightly fitted N95 doesn't work.)

Or am I reading the data wrong?

https://coronavirus.dc.gov/page/dc-schools-data

[Anonymous]

FFS give it a rest.

But also, here's an ACTUAL study: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/mandatory-masking-schools-reduced-covid-19-cases-during-delta-surge

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking at the DC Schools Data, it doesn't seem like dropping the school mask mandate is the cause for the rise in cases. There is no discernible difference between DCPS schools (no mandate) and charters that are still requiring masks. In fact, Capital City, which still has a mandate, has almost as many cases as Wilson, despite having much fewer students.

So here is our real-life, "observational study" with control group, right here in DC, confirming the recent, formal studies out of Spain and Finland. Mask mandates in schools don't work. (Which doesn't mean that protecting yourself with a tightly fitted N95 doesn't work.)

Or am I reading the data wrong?

https://coronavirus.dc.gov/page/dc-schools-data

How can you tell though - since the mask mandate only was removed a few months ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at the DC Schools Data, it doesn't seem like dropping the school mask mandate is the cause for the rise in cases. There is no discernible difference between DCPS schools (no mandate) and charters that are still requiring masks. In fact, Capital City, which still has a mandate, has almost as many cases as Wilson, despite having much fewer students.

So here is our real-life, "observational study" with control group, right here in DC, confirming the recent, formal studies out of Spain and Finland. Mask mandates in schools don't work. (Which doesn't mean that protecting yourself with a tightly fitted N95 doesn't work.)

Or am I reading the data wrong?

https://coronavirus.dc.gov/page/dc-schools-data

How can you tell though - since the mask mandate only was removed a few months ago.

Has your real life study accounted for people who still wear a mask in absence of a mask mandate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at the DC Schools Data, it doesn't seem like dropping the school mask mandate is the cause for the rise in cases. There is no discernible difference between DCPS schools (no mandate) and charters that are still requiring masks. In fact, Capital City, which still has a mandate, has almost as many cases as Wilson, despite having much fewer students.

So here is our real-life, "observational study" with control group, right here in DC, confirming the recent, formal studies out of Spain and Finland. Mask mandates in schools don't work. (Which doesn't mean that protecting yourself with a tightly fitted N95 doesn't work.)

Or am I reading the data wrong?

https://coronavirus.dc.gov/page/dc-schools-data

How can you tell though - since the mask mandate only was removed a few months ago.

+1 Are the case numbers cases for the entire year? Or only in the period since the mask mandates were dropped?

The other thing you would need to know is how much testing is being done. A school where all or most of the students submit to weekly testing (which may be the case at the charter) and/or require test to stay are going to have more cases that schools where there are no routine screening tests.

[Anonymous]

I think DC Covid data is a reporting mess right now. Are they keeping up to date in schools even? They should be, but are they?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FFS give it a rest.

But also, here's an ACTUAL study: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/mandatory-masking-schools-reduced-covid-19-cases-during-delta-surge

Do you understand the meaning of quotation marks? I know this DCPS data isn't a study. But looking at the DCPS/charter data would be a lot more useful than comparing communities that are fundamentally different in so many other ways, which is what the heavily confounded study you posted did.

We shouldn't give this a rest because given that many schools around here are still imposing a mandate and there is still the possibility of mandates coming back in DCPS next year (winter surge), this is unfortunately still a live topic. It is a shame that the NIH has failed to conduct a randomized-controlled trial to find out if school mask mandates work or not.

If you want to look at the best studies we have on this issue, look at the ones I cited from Spain and Finland:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4046809

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.04.04.22272833v1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FFS give it a rest.

But also, here's an ACTUAL study: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/mandatory-masking-schools-reduced-covid-19-cases-during-delta-surge

+1 aren’t you tired of this?

[Anonymous]

The data is wrong. It is wildly underreporting the number of cases at my kids' school, so I have no reason to trust the rest of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FFS give it a rest.

But also, here's an ACTUAL study: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/mandatory-masking-schools-reduced-covid-19-cases-during-delta-surge

+1 aren’t you tired of this?

I'll be tired of it once we retire mask mandates once and for all.

[Anonymous]

Mask mandates don't work.

Masks (good, well-fitting ones) do work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at the DC Schools Data, it doesn't seem like dropping the school mask mandate is the cause for the rise in cases. There is no discernible difference between DCPS schools (no mandate) and charters that are still requiring masks. In fact, Capital City, which still has a mandate, has almost as many cases as Wilson, despite having much fewer students.

So here is our real-life, "observational study" with control group, right here in DC, confirming the recent, formal studies out of Spain and Finland. Mask mandates in schools don't work. (Which doesn't mean that protecting yourself with a tightly fitted N95 doesn't work.)

Or am I reading the data wrong?

https://coronavirus.dc.gov/page/dc-schools-data

How can you tell though - since the mask mandate only was removed a few months ago.

+1 Are the case numbers cases for the entire year? Or only in the period since the mask mandates were dropped?

The other thing you would need to know is how much testing is being done. A school where all or most of the students submit to weekly testing (which may be the case at the charter) and/or require test to stay are going to have more cases that schools where there are no routine screening tests.

Good point. Would love to see an actual study done on this data though, comparing what happened in the past two months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mask mandates don't work.

Masks (good, well-fitting ones) do work.

+1

Thank you. It's really very simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FFS give it a rest.

But also, here's an ACTUAL study: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/mandatory-masking-schools-reduced-covid-19-cases-during-delta-surge

+1 aren’t you tired of this?

That's from the government so OP won't trust it.

She'd rather rely on her own anecdotes, gut feelings, and 'research'.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mask mandates don't work.

Masks (good, well-fitting ones) do work.

+1

Thank you. It's really very simple.

OP here. Yes, this was my point, and I said it in my post. We know that a well-fitted N95 works. But people are right, it is too soon to tell. I just wish someone would actually study this data, since we have the fortuitous (form a research standpoint, not for the charter kids) situation of having schools of relatively similar demographics within the same community following different policies.