Is it time to have the difficult conversation about masks and MCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At this point I am more concerned with “your class got lice” letters which we seem to be getting once a week. My child also has had 2 pink eyes since the school started. I am ready to send him to school in a scaphander.

Use fairy tales lice products, wash clothing upon entering the house and take them to a lice person to get rid of it if you cannot. And, take your kid to the doctor for the pink eye as it probably never cleared up round one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it’s time to talk about masks because people are just not ready. I think once the mask mandate for the overall county is gone, people will take a few months to get used to it. I am hoping by spring they will start to let go of some of this anxiety and then our kids can unmask in schools provided MSDe agrees.

Cdc recommends masking at school.

And yet tons of kids coming down with colds and throat infections and coughs.

How do you explain that? Masks are not the long term answer. The folks getting sick with Covid are obese and/or have lung issues. Let's tackle that.

Have you been in an elementary school?? Oh wait, you are not allowed in due to covid. Let me tell you what I see every single day. 60% of kids have their mask off or worn wrong. 60% easily. At recess, they get thrown on the ground or tossed somewhere and they run around, climb all over each other, play and talk in each other's faces non-stop. Let me repeat. There is no distancing and no masks being worn outside. They go to lunch and spend another 30 minutes sharing food, talking, coughing, sneezing and being in each other's faces as they are crammed at a table to eat. That is one hour of pure unmasked bliss going on. That is another 5 hours with improperly worn masks if worn at all. I have noticed since time ticks on, many kids are removing their masks and only putting it on when the teacher reinforces masking. Now do you see why kids are sick with everything but covid. Most adults are vaxxed so there is not much covid spreading amongst kids but stomach bugs, flu, cold, RSV, and strep are RAMPANT! My own Kindergartner gets sick every two weeks like clockwork.

DP. Aren’t you making the PP’s point that there’s no use in requiring masks at school?

Bad teacher who is lazy about cleaning and mask use.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You hope the kids wear masks for a lot longer just to be safe?! Knock yourself out. I’m horrified my 4 year old will likely wear them 40 hours a week for 2 years. Isn’t hat enough? I mean YOU can do what you want but at a certain point especially once kids are vaccinated and are therefore much less likely to get covid you need to let it go and respect that not everyone feels warm and fuzzy on masks. I think they are disgusting and dystopian and can’t wait for moco to catch up.

Horrified? Dystopian? Wow.

Masks are great. They've kept us safe, but the Trumpers sure hate them.

Illustrating once again why trolls make it impossible to have any kind of nuanced or educated or conversation

Liberals who deny Covid are the new trumpers only worse as they should know better.

[Anonymous]

I’ve been pretty pro mask but it’s crazy to say that there isn’t a negative effect—it definitely makes it harder to understand the speaker. For HS kids trying to absorb complicated subjects like AP physics it’s really tough! My personal preference would be teachers unmasked when teaching if vaccinated. I think that would be extremely low risk for a large educational benefit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been pretty pro mask but it’s crazy to say that there isn’t a negative effect—it definitely makes it harder to understand the speaker. For HS kids trying to absorb complicated subjects like AP physics it’s really tough! My personal preference would be teachers unmasked when teaching if vaccinated. I think that would be extremely low risk for a large educational benefit.

It’s not low risk when half the cases are vaccinated. Teachers need better masks. Maybe those kids are not ready for AP physics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been pretty pro mask but it’s crazy to say that there isn’t a negative effect—it definitely makes it harder to understand the speaker. For HS kids trying to absorb complicated subjects like AP physics it’s really tough! My personal preference would be teachers unmasked when teaching if vaccinated. I think that would be extremely low risk for a large educational benefit.

It’s not low risk when half the cases are vaccinated. Teachers need better masks. Maybe those kids are not ready for AP physics.

The share of breakthrough infections is the result of the high vaccination rate in populations that get symptomatic cases. It doesn’t really speak to the risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been pretty pro mask but it’s crazy to say that there isn’t a negative effect—it definitely makes it harder to understand the speaker. For HS kids trying to absorb complicated subjects like AP physics it’s really tough! My personal preference would be teachers unmasked when teaching if vaccinated. I think that would be extremely low risk for a large educational benefit.

It’s not low risk when half the cases are vaccinated. Teachers need better masks. Maybe those kids are not ready for AP physics.

The share of breakthrough infections is the result of the high vaccination rate in populations that get symptomatic cases. It doesn’t really speak to the risk.

No, which is why we need mandatory weekly testing to know the risk and spread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been pretty pro mask but it’s crazy to say that there isn’t a negative effect—it definitely makes it harder to understand the speaker. For HS kids trying to absorb complicated subjects like AP physics it’s really tough! My personal preference would be teachers unmasked when teaching if vaccinated. I think that would be extremely low risk for a large educational benefit.

It’s not low risk when half the cases are vaccinated. Teachers need better masks. Maybe those kids are not ready for AP physics.

You're using the wrong denominator.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been pretty pro mask but it’s crazy to say that there isn’t a negative effect—it definitely makes it harder to understand the speaker. For HS kids trying to absorb complicated subjects like AP physics it’s really tough! My personal preference would be teachers unmasked when teaching if vaccinated. I think that would be extremely low risk for a large educational benefit.

It’s not low risk when half the cases are vaccinated. Teachers need better masks. Maybe those kids are not ready for AP physics.

The share of breakthrough infections is the result of the high vaccination rate in populations that get symptomatic cases. It doesn’t really speak to the risk.

No, which is why we need mandatory weekly testing to know the risk and spread.

I'm not sure what you think would be practically actionable based on that information. Cases themselves aren't the problem- bad health outcomes are the problem. Since COVID is bound to be endemic, we're going to need to accept that.

If the in-school testing were to reveal a very small number of cases, then we'd conclude kids aren't at high-risk for infection and schools aren't high-risk for transmission. If the testing revealed higher than expected numbers, then we could conclude that the vast majority in schools are either protected via vaccination/prior infection, or they're simply not high-risk for serious complications. Either way, there's no problem to address.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You hope the kids wear masks for a lot longer just to be safe?! Knock yourself out. I’m horrified my 4 year old will likely wear them 40 hours a week for 2 years. Isn’t hat enough? I mean YOU can do what you want but at a certain point especially once kids are vaccinated and are therefore much less likely to get covid you need to let it go and respect that not everyone feels warm and fuzzy on masks. I think they are disgusting and dystopian and can’t wait for moco to catch up.

Horrified? Dystopian? Wow.

Masks are great. They've kept us safe, but the Trumpers sure hate them.

Illustrating once again why trolls make it impossible to have any kind of nuanced or educated or conversation

Liberals who deny Covid are the new trumpers only worse as they should know better.

Just as insulting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You hope the kids wear masks for a lot longer just to be safe?! Knock yourself out. I’m horrified my 4 year old will likely wear them 40 hours a week for 2 years. Isn’t hat enough? I mean YOU can do what you want but at a certain point especially once kids are vaccinated and are therefore much less likely to get covid you need to let it go and respect that not everyone feels warm and fuzzy on masks. I think they are disgusting and dystopian and can’t wait for moco to catch up.

Horrified? Dystopian? Wow.

Masks are great. They've kept us safe, but the Trumpers sure hate them.

Illustrating once again why trolls make it impossible to have any kind of nuanced or educated or conversation

Liberals who deny Covid are the new trumpers only worse as they should know better.

Trolls gonna troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been pretty pro mask but it’s crazy to say that there isn’t a negative effect—it definitely makes it harder to understand the speaker. For HS kids trying to absorb complicated subjects like AP physics it’s really tough! My personal preference would be teachers unmasked when teaching if vaccinated. I think that would be extremely low risk for a large educational benefit.

It’s not low risk when half the cases are vaccinated. Teachers need better masks. Maybe those kids are not ready for AP physics.

The rate of breakthrough infections in Maryland is 0.12 % https://health.maryland.gov/newsroom/Pages/Maryland-Department-of-Health-releases-COVID-19-post-vaccination-infections-data.aspx The study from Washington state states that 1 in 5,000 is the rate. Please cite where you got the “half” part from?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The last couple of months have gone great for MCPS (although last year was such an utter failure when the rest of the country went back that they deserve no kudos).

Over the last few weeks we have had unmasked homecoming, parties, kids are having playdates constantly, and even unmasked lunch in schools. And almost no spread (very minimal at worst).

With the 5 to 11 group set to vaccinated very shortly, when do we start discussing masks? If you are a "mask forever" type please spare me, you are not based in reality or science. This is a serious discussion about when we think it will be safe. That day is coming, and probably sooner than we think. Me? I am think by Jan 2022 masks won't be necessary in schools and MCPS will ultimately have to bow to public pressure.

It's a STATE requirement. Did you know that?

https://news.maryland.gov/msde/new-masking-requirement-effective-immediately-for-all-maryland-public-schools/

So if it's a state requirement, then that shows that the vaccine's are working? Montgomery County has two schools listed with outbreaks of 2 and 3 cases each. All the other counties have multiple cases in multiple schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The last couple of months have gone great for MCPS (although last year was such an utter failure when the rest of the country went back that they deserve no kudos).

Over the last few weeks we have had unmasked homecoming, parties, kids are having playdates constantly, and even unmasked lunch in schools. And almost no spread (very minimal at worst).

With the 5 to 11 group set to vaccinated very shortly, when do we start discussing masks? If you are a "mask forever" type please spare me, you are not based in reality or science. This is a serious discussion about when we think it will be safe. That day is coming, and probably sooner than we think. Me? I am think by Jan 2022 masks won't be necessary in schools and MCPS will ultimately have to bow to public pressure.

It's a STATE requirement. Did you know that?

https://news.maryland.gov/msde/new-masking-requirement-effective-immediately-for-all-maryland-public-schools/

So if it's a state requirement, then that shows that the vaccine's are working? Montgomery County has two schools listed with outbreaks of 2 and 3 cases each. All the other counties have multiple cases in multiple schools.

We also (at least for the moment) have a countywide indoor mask mandate, which other counties haven’t necessarily implemented. There are a lot of elements that have contributed to keeping case numbers low, especially as breakthrough cases become less rare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You hope the kids wear masks for a lot longer just to be safe?! Knock yourself out. I’m horrified my 4 year old will likely wear them 40 hours a week for 2 years. Isn’t hat enough? I mean YOU can do what you want but at a certain point especially once kids are vaccinated and are therefore much less likely to get covid you need to let it go and respect that not everyone feels warm and fuzzy on masks. I think they are disgusting and dystopian and can’t wait for moco to catch up.

Horrified? Dystopian? Wow.

Masks are great. They've kept us safe, but the Trumpers sure hate them.

Illustrating once again why trolls make it impossible to have any kind of nuanced or educated or conversation

Liberals who deny Covid are the new trumpers only worse as they should know better.

LOL, these turf posts are a riot.