When should DC drop its school mask mandate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like you people are on a different planet. Read this and tell me that it’s a good idea to take masks off while transmission is still “high” in DC …

https://www.science.org/content/article/covid-19-takes-serious-toll-heart-health-full-year-after-recovery

If they have a years worth of data, all of the people in this study caught the virus pre-vaccination. Weighing the benefit of mandatory masking against the risk of disease is an entirely different calculation when vaccines are available. And as of right now, everyone over the age of 5 has the opportunity to be fully vaccinated. I have no problem letting individual students/teachers continue to mask to protect themselves. But to continue to impose the burden across the entire school population to protect others is no longer acceptable.

It's really not a burden. You are making it a burden because you are a drama llama.

Right?! If they give my vaccinated children the option to wear a mask, how will my neighbors know I'm a good person? As it is, they can barely see my 'thank You Dr. Fauci" sign from the street...

Maybe you can have your kid wear a Fauci pendant instead. It might be just as effective.

[Anonymous]

The weekly case rate (which was already HIGH transmission) is now going back up.

Ya'll are a bunch of dingbats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The weekly case rate (which was already HIGH transmission) is now going back up.

Ya'll are a bunch of dingbats.

Nope, sorry. Not at our private school. Down to 0.04 %

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like you people are on a different planet. Read this and tell me that it’s a good idea to take masks off while transmission is still “high” in DC …

https://www.science.org/content/article/covid-19-takes-serious-toll-heart-health-full-year-after-recovery

If they have a years worth of data, all of the people in this study caught the virus pre-vaccination. Weighing the benefit of mandatory masking against the risk of disease is an entirely different calculation when vaccines are available. And as of right now, everyone over the age of 5 has the opportunity to be fully vaccinated. I have no problem letting individual students/teachers continue to mask to protect themselves. But to continue to impose the burden across the entire school population to protect others is no longer acceptable.

It's really not a burden. You are making it a burden because you are a drama llama.

Right?! If they give my vaccinated children the option to wear a mask, how will my neighbors know I'm a good person? As it is, they can barely see my 'thank You Dr. Fauci" sign from the street...

OMG, absolutely. How else can I show my allegiance to the Democratic party and Biden if I don't mask up every day, even while walking my dog alone at 6:30 a.m.? I sure hope people see me. I would hate for there to be any doubt, and my bumper stickers are already fading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So....teachers are going to quit if there aren't masks on children in schools? Really?

Somehow I doubt this. Why? Because 1) they teachers are all vaccinated and their risk of hospitalization or death is very low because of that. I would expect that teachers have some basic risk assessment where that is clear to them. 2) a lot of them don't like the masks, either, 3) if they actually have some sort of consistent risk assessment then they aren't doing anything else that puts them at risk (and we know that's not true), 4) they know as well as the rest of us that kids aren't wearing masks perfectly.

I'm kind of tired of being threatened by the fears of the irrational.

+1 I'm a teacher and I don't foresee any sort of work stoppage or mass exodus over removing the mask mandate. The outliers might leave but they are few and far between

There are probably 5 DCPS teachers on Twitter who would start a campaign about quitting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The weekly case rate (which was already HIGH transmission) is now going back up.

Ya'll are a bunch of dingbats.

Nope, sorry. Not at our private school. Down to 0.04 %

Right, if it doesn’t affect you then who cares, amirite?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The weekly case rate (which was already HIGH transmission) is now going back up.

Ya'll are a bunch of dingbats.

Nope, sorry. Not at our private school. Down to 0.04 %

No idiot. The weekly case rate in DC. Nobody cares about your private school.

[Anonymous]

Who cares about cases? Look at hospitalizations of school age children if you want to gauge whether we need a school mask mandate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So....teachers are going to quit if there aren't masks on children in schools? Really?

Somehow I doubt this. Why? Because 1) they teachers are all vaccinated and their risk of hospitalization or death is very low because of that. I would expect that teachers have some basic risk assessment where that is clear to them. 2) a lot of them don't like the masks, either, 3) if they actually have some sort of consistent risk assessment then they aren't doing anything else that puts them at risk (and we know that's not true), 4) they know as well as the rest of us that kids aren't wearing masks perfectly.

I'm kind of tired of being threatened by the fears of the irrational.

+1 I'm a teacher and I don't foresee any sort of work stoppage or mass exodus over removing the mask mandate. The outliers might leave but they are few and far between

There are probably 5 DCPS teachers on Twitter who would start a campaign about quitting.

But would others follow? One of them frequently posts worried selfies as she goes off to teach her admittedly poorly attended high school class (or walk on an icy sidewalk, you name it). Each one is like she’s going off to war. I don’t think most teachers are this extra.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So....teachers are going to quit if there aren't masks on children in schools? Really?

Somehow I doubt this. Why? Because 1) they teachers are all vaccinated and their risk of hospitalization or death is very low because of that. I would expect that teachers have some basic risk assessment where that is clear to them. 2) a lot of them don't like the masks, either, 3) if they actually have some sort of consistent risk assessment then they aren't doing anything else that puts them at risk (and we know that's not true), 4) they know as well as the rest of us that kids aren't wearing masks perfectly.

I'm kind of tired of being threatened by the fears of the irrational.

+1 I'm a teacher and I don't foresee any sort of work stoppage or mass exodus over removing the mask mandate. The outliers might leave but they are few and far between

There are probably 5 DCPS teachers on Twitter who would start a campaign about quitting.

But would others follow? One of them frequently posts worried selfies as she goes off to teach her admittedly poorly attended high school class (or walk on an icy sidewalk, you name it). Each one is like she’s going off to war. I don’t think most teachers are this extra.

I am sure some would do a work stoppage but only a very small percent. For most a paycheck is way more important than mask wearing. And there is absolutely no way I would protest/strike/work to the rule/etc. for a mask mandate. I absolutely want it repealed.

-DCPS teacher seeing more and more lax mask wearing at school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So....teachers are going to quit if there aren't masks on children in schools? Really?

Somehow I doubt this. Why? Because 1) they teachers are all vaccinated and their risk of hospitalization or death is very low because of that. I would expect that teachers have some basic risk assessment where that is clear to them. 2) a lot of them don't like the masks, either, 3) if they actually have some sort of consistent risk assessment then they aren't doing anything else that puts them at risk (and we know that's not true), 4) they know as well as the rest of us that kids aren't wearing masks perfectly.

I'm kind of tired of being threatened by the fears of the irrational.

+1 I'm a teacher and I don't foresee any sort of work stoppage or mass exodus over removing the mask mandate. The outliers might leave but they are few and far between

There are probably 5 DCPS teachers on Twitter who would start a campaign about quitting.

But would others follow? One of them frequently posts worried selfies as she goes off to teach her admittedly poorly attended high school class (or walk on an icy sidewalk, you name it). Each one is like she’s going off to war. I don’t think most teachers are this extra.

I am sure some would do a work stoppage but only a very small percent. For most a paycheck is way more important than mask wearing. And there is absolutely no way I would protest/strike/work to the rule/etc. for a mask mandate. I absolutely want it repealed.

-DCPS teacher seeing more and more lax mask wearing at school

Thanks for your perspective. Either way, I’m worried mask optional (which I support) is going to be a shit show. So much covid precaution virtue signaling from parents, I just don’t know how it will shake out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like you people are on a different planet. Read this and tell me that it’s a good idea to take masks off while transmission is still “high” in DC …

https://www.science.org/content/article/covid-19-takes-serious-toll-heart-health-full-year-after-recovery

If they have a years worth of data, all of the people in this study caught the virus pre-vaccination. Weighing the benefit of mandatory masking against the risk of disease is an entirely different calculation when vaccines are available. And as of right now, everyone over the age of 5 has the opportunity to be fully vaccinated. I have no problem letting individual students/teachers continue to mask to protect themselves. But to continue to impose the burden across the entire school population to protect others is no longer acceptable.

It's really not a burden. You are making it a burden because you are a drama llama.

NP but do you work from home? I find that people who saying wearing a mask is no big deal tend to wear it for a 30 minute trip to the grocery store twice a week. It’s easy to claim people are dramatic when you don’t have to experience the situation they have issues with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The weekly case rate (which was already HIGH transmission) is now going back up.

Ya'll are a bunch of dingbats.

Down at our school too. Perhaps your school has a low vaccination rate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The weekly case rate (which was already HIGH transmission) is now going back up.

Ya'll are a bunch of dingbats.

Nope, sorry. Not at our private school. Down to 0.04 %

Right, if it doesn’t affect you then who cares, amirite?

Even better - keep masks in place for Wards with high positive case counts.

[Anonymous]

The case rate increasingly means nothing, as has been noted by many public health commentators. Like, when many/most cases are mild colds or asymptomatic, those cases shouldn't be looked at the in the same way as prior waves.

The important metric is hospital capacity. Note that in DC we've NEVER gone above hospital bed availability, and still aren't even trending in that direction.