Masks optional by spring break

[Anonymous]

There are two themes in play here:
#4. Associate covid is the same as the flu (and downplay any associated effects to hospitals, teachers, elderly, etc.)
#7. Make fake associations to the false data with credible / reputable sources to give the themes credibility (ex. the sources never said that or it was wildly exaggerated)

This theme is so old, I just paste the responses:

** Omicron is like the flu

"On Sunday, the Times published an eye-opening group of charts to illustrate the early shape of American mortality during the Omicron surge. Compiling data from New York City, Chicago, and Boston, what they found was — given everything we know about immunity and about Omicron — almost hard to believe. In each case, shifting the graphs by 21 days to account for the typical lag between diagnosis and death showed that the number of deaths was now growing almost precisely in line with case growth. In other words, in this data at least, there was been almost no “decoupling” between cases and deaths at all — to this point, in these places, the Omicron wave appeared on a per-case basis just about as deadly as last winter’s surge, when hardly anyone in the country was vaccinated and the virus itself was inherently more virulent than this variant."
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/01/two-paths-for-omicron.html

** There is no evidence of spread covid in schools

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/coronavirus/dashboard/

[NOTE: https://coronavirus.maryland.gov/pages/school-resources and https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/coronavirus/dashboard/ provide different numbers.]

The Central Office attempted to hide their 14+ covid cases in Jan. They labeled their covid cases Central/Other, Other/Central Office, Central Office/Other, Central Office, Central Office (including DOT, DMM, HR, CESC, etc.), all on successive days.

It's like an AA or drug rehab meeting where no one will stand up and say "I'm an alcoholic."

** Covid is not a health issue for children

"Nationwide, an average of 881 children under age 17 are being admitted to hospitals with COVID each day"
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-omicron-is-putting-more-kids-in-the-hospital/

"Based on what we've gathered today, Omicron is not causing more severe infections, but is infecting many more children. And hence we are seeing more children hospitalized with Covid,"
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/omicron-covid-variant-omicron-coronavirus-variant-new-omicron-covid-variant-more-hospitalisations-less-severe-what-is-omicrons-effect-on-children-2680870

"The U.S. has hit a new record for COVID hospitalizations and a new record for the number of children hospitalized too."
"So right now in Texas, there are just under 400 kids hospitalized for COVID. CDC data shows that's a 600% increase here since mid-December among kids 18 and under."
"pediatric COVID hospitalizations have been doubling every week over the past month or so"
https://www.npr.org/2022/01/11/1072183494/the-u-s-has-hit-a-new-record-for-the-number-of-children-hospitalized-with-covid-

"COVID-19 in Children: Studies Indicate Increased Risk of Respiratory Infection and Diabetes"
https://weather.com/en-IN/india/coronavirus/news/2022-01-09-covid-19-in-children-studies-indicate-increased-risk-of

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If one-way N95 masking plus vaccines work just as well or better than universal masking (cloth or surgical), there really is no need for universal masking. It's just not needed.

Better to put our energy into vaccine clinics and getting well-fitting N95s / KN95s / KN94s to everyone who wants one.

it was true for a long time that your mask kept me safe; and my mask kept you safe.

But that's just not the case anymore. The surge is passing, thank God -- now it's time to change the policies and stop shifting costs to kids (unless it's a dire emergency.)

Focus on vaccines and boosters, get outside, and in crowds or not-well-ventilated spaces -- or during a spike -- focus on high-quality, well-fitting masks for YOU or your kid. Wear as needed.

Most of the earth’s population is not vaccinated. Variants will keep coming. You know a little something about omicron and nothing about the new variants we’ll see over the next 5 months. What gives you the confidence to make statements about the effectiveness of masking for the rest of the school year? I’m not saying masking will be necessary, because I don’t know, but what makes you so sure that masking won’t be necessary, other than the fact that you don’t want your kids to have to?

[Anonymous]

I think some people want this to go on forever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If one-way N95 masking plus vaccines work just as well or better than universal masking (cloth or surgical), there really is no need for universal masking. It's just not needed.

Better to put our energy into vaccine clinics and getting well-fitting N95s / KN95s / KN94s to everyone who wants one.

it was true for a long time that your mask kept me safe; and my mask kept you safe.

But that's just not the case anymore. The surge is passing, thank God -- now it's time to change the policies and stop shifting costs to kids (unless it's a dire emergency.)

Focus on vaccines and boosters, get outside, and in crowds or not-well-ventilated spaces -- or during a spike -- focus on high-quality, well-fitting masks for YOU or your kid. Wear as needed.

Most of the earth’s population is not vaccinated. Variants will keep coming. You know a little something about omicron and nothing about the new variants we’ll see over the next 5 months. What gives you the confidence to make statements about the effectiveness of masking for the rest of the school year? I’m not saying masking will be necessary, because I don’t know, but what makes you so sure that masking won’t be necessary, other than the fact that you don’t want your kids to have to?

If things change, then we'll have to adapt again.

One of the reasons I'd like us to make masking optional sooner rather than later is a combination of the enjoy-it-while-you-can factor with what I suppose is best described as fatigue. Or maybe, just getting used to it. I'm worried that if we insist on mandatory masking when the benefits are likely statistically not-very-significant, then we may end up with less compliance in the future when it's really important.

FWIW, my kids and I will probably wear masks indoors, depending on what we're hearing from health officials. But I don't need you to mask if you don't want to -- unless there is new information (new variant, community spread rates, e.g.) to content with.

[Anonymous]

And also, 100% YES to getting vaccines (and treatments) to as many people worldwide as possible. This is much more important BOTH in terms of protecting others AND ourselves than worrying about whether all the kids in an elementary school classroom are wearing cloth masks under currently-projected conditions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think some people want this to go on forever.

It doesn’t matter what people want. Covid will make its own decisions. I’m hopeful we’ll be moving to an endemic stage soon and that there won’t be any more curveball variants. But who knows.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:You people kill me. Kids don't give a rat's a** about wearing masks. Unless they've been brainwashed by you psycho parents, of course. I have kids and I work with kids, including those with special needs. My kids are just happy to be back in-person. If they have to wear masks forever they don't care.

Anytime anyone generalizes something like this, I call troll. Or are you seriously telling me you don’t know a single kid with glasses? Or a hearing/speech impediment? Or any that have to wear them during very active sports?

No one is saying your kids can’t wear their masks forever, they certainly can. But mask wearing all day is uncomfortable for some and causes additional difficulties for others. And not developmentally appropriate for years on end. I really struggle with people like you who can’t acknowledge the downsides.

Whatever. You can call me a troll all you want. I just don't think mask wearing is all that big of a deal. I've been working with children aged 0-9 since the beginning of the pandemic. Of course those under 2 don't wear masks but I honestly haven't seen anything detrimental due to mask wearing in a group setting. I mean it's not like parents are wearing masks at home. And I work with typically and non-typically developing children with an array of needs including speech and language.

So have I. I coach sports. Almost every day.

I remember in Fall of 2020, at the start of the season, they made our athletes mask up while on the field. Mid way through the season, that policy changed.

When I told my team of the policy change, they cheered, ripped their masks off, threw them onto the ground, and ran onto the field maskless, ready to begin practice.

Kids do care. They do mind. They may just be telling you what they think you want to hear. But they would rather not wear them. Don't kid yourself

And then half the football team and their families came down with covid...

Lol. Sorry. I've coached 4 teams since the start of the pandemic. Not a single case on any my teams.

Or, they just aren't reporting it. We know of multiple cases of covid on our sports team and yet the coach/organization hasn't told us about one.

#silentspreaders

But...I'm the coach.

You're thinking that parents test their kids when they asymptomatic, get a positive result, but still send their kid to softball practice? That seems far fetched

I haven't even had a player out for a week or two. I mean, I guess I would presume they were out with Covid even if the parent didn't tell me but that hasnt even happened.

Yes, I do. I know several families who have done it with sports. Kids are home from school but still go to sports.

We are the opposite. I’m keeping my kids away from dance / indoor sports for the next couple of weeks - or until this surge simmers down. School for me is non negotiable, but EC are a choice and a risk that’s not worth taking right now, even though my kids are vaccinated. Too many kids who don’t know how to keep a mask on their face and lax teachers and coaches who don’t enforce mask wearing.

The next couple weeks? The surge is done in MoCo. Keep your kid home as long as you want, but with vaccinated kids, that makes little sense to me. What was the point of getting them vaccinated?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:You people kill me. Kids don't give a rat's a** about wearing masks. Unless they've been brainwashed by you psycho parents, of course. I have kids and I work with kids, including those with special needs. My kids are just happy to be back in-person. If they have to wear masks forever they don't care.

Anytime anyone generalizes something like this, I call troll. Or are you seriously telling me you don’t know a single kid with glasses? Or a hearing/speech impediment? Or any that have to wear them during very active sports?

No one is saying your kids can’t wear their masks forever, they certainly can. But mask wearing all day is uncomfortable for some and causes additional difficulties for others. And not developmentally appropriate for years on end. I really struggle with people like you who can’t acknowledge the downsides.

Whatever. You can call me a troll all you want. I just don't think mask wearing is all that big of a deal. I've been working with children aged 0-9 since the beginning of the pandemic. Of course those under 2 don't wear masks but I honestly haven't seen anything detrimental due to mask wearing in a group setting. I mean it's not like parents are wearing masks at home. And I work with typically and non-typically developing children with an array of needs including speech and language.

So have I. I coach sports. Almost every day.

I remember in Fall of 2020, at the start of the season, they made our athletes mask up while on the field. Mid way through the season, that policy changed.

When I told my team of the policy change, they cheered, ripped their masks off, threw them onto the ground, and ran onto the field maskless, ready to begin practice.

Kids do care. They do mind. They may just be telling you what they think you want to hear. But they would rather not wear them. Don't kid yourself

And then half the football team and their families came down with covid...

Lol. Sorry. I've coached 4 teams since the start of the pandemic. Not a single case on any my teams.

Or, they just aren't reporting it. We know of multiple cases of covid on our sports team and yet the coach/organization hasn't told us about one.

#silentspreaders

But...I'm the coach.

You're thinking that parents test their kids when they asymptomatic, get a positive result, but still send their kid to softball practice? That seems far fetched

I haven't even had a player out for a week or two. I mean, I guess I would presume they were out with Covid even if the parent didn't tell me but that hasnt even happened.

Yes, I do. I know several families who have done it with sports. Kids are home from school but still go to sports.

Honestly, I don't believe you.

Any family that would test a kid without symptoms would not turn around and send them out to interact with the world after a positive test. Those two things are in conflict.

Now, I would believe that a family would send a kid who had a sibling or parent test positive to sports practice. But that family would NOT test a kid without symptoms first. So that covid status of the child at practice would be unknown.

But if a family is cautious enough to test asymptomatic people, they are cautious enough to not send a kid to practice

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:You people kill me. Kids don't give a rat's a** about wearing masks. Unless they've been brainwashed by you psycho parents, of course. I have kids and I work with kids, including those with special needs. My kids are just happy to be back in-person. If they have to wear masks forever they don't care.

Anytime anyone generalizes something like this, I call troll. Or are you seriously telling me you don’t know a single kid with glasses? Or a hearing/speech impediment? Or any that have to wear them during very active sports?

No one is saying your kids can’t wear their masks forever, they certainly can. But mask wearing all day is uncomfortable for some and causes additional difficulties for others. And not developmentally appropriate for years on end. I really struggle with people like you who can’t acknowledge the downsides.

Whatever. You can call me a troll all you want. I just don't think mask wearing is all that big of a deal. I've been working with children aged 0-9 since the beginning of the pandemic. Of course those under 2 don't wear masks but I honestly haven't seen anything detrimental due to mask wearing in a group setting. I mean it's not like parents are wearing masks at home. And I work with typically and non-typically developing children with an array of needs including speech and language.

So have I. I coach sports. Almost every day.

I remember in Fall of 2020, at the start of the season, they made our athletes mask up while on the field. Mid way through the season, that policy changed.

When I told my team of the policy change, they cheered, ripped their masks off, threw them onto the ground, and ran onto the field maskless, ready to begin practice.

Kids do care. They do mind. They may just be telling you what they think you want to hear. But they would rather not wear them. Don't kid yourself

And then half the football team and their families came down with covid...

Lol. Sorry. I've coached 4 teams since the start of the pandemic. Not a single case on any my teams.

Or, they just aren't reporting it. We know of multiple cases of covid on our sports team and yet the coach/organization hasn't told us about one.

#silentspreaders

But...I'm the coach.

You're thinking that parents test their kids when they asymptomatic, get a positive result, but still send their kid to softball practice? That seems far fetched

I haven't even had a player out for a week or two. I mean, I guess I would presume they were out with Covid even if the parent didn't tell me but that hasnt even happened.

If they're asymptomatic? Yes. You can't really be that naive when dealing with the entitled parents of entitled kids.

But if a parent cared that little about spread, why would they test their kid in the first place?

That's the thing: only hyper-cautious people are testing their asymptomatic kids. So the person that cautious enough to test their healthy kid, but reckless enough to send them to practice with a positive test does not exist.

Also, again, despite coaching multiple teams over the last 2 years, there has not been outbreak on any of my teams (which all play outdoors, which is how this conversation began). Sure, that is an anecdotal data point. But it does take the wind out of the "then everyone on the team gets it and 22 grandparents die" because that is not what's happening.

The hyperbole is getting old

[Anonymous]

You're right, this hyperbole is getting old.

You don't really care who lives or dies as long as you're fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:You people kill me. Kids don't give a rat's a** about wearing masks. Unless they've been brainwashed by you psycho parents, of course. I have kids and I work with kids, including those with special needs. My kids are just happy to be back in-person. If they have to wear masks forever they don't care.

Anytime anyone generalizes something like this, I call troll. Or are you seriously telling me you don’t know a single kid with glasses? Or a hearing/speech impediment? Or any that have to wear them during very active sports?

No one is saying your kids can’t wear their masks forever, they certainly can. But mask wearing all day is uncomfortable for some and causes additional difficulties for others. And not developmentally appropriate for years on end. I really struggle with people like you who can’t acknowledge the downsides.

Whatever. You can call me a troll all you want. I just don't think mask wearing is all that big of a deal. I've been working with children aged 0-9 since the beginning of the pandemic. Of course those under 2 don't wear masks but I honestly haven't seen anything detrimental due to mask wearing in a group setting. I mean it's not like parents are wearing masks at home. And I work with typically and non-typically developing children with an array of needs including speech and language.

So have I. I coach sports. Almost every day.

I remember in Fall of 2020, at the start of the season, they made our athletes mask up while on the field. Mid way through the season, that policy changed.

When I told my team of the policy change, they cheered, ripped their masks off, threw them onto the ground, and ran onto the field maskless, ready to begin practice.

Kids do care. They do mind. They may just be telling you what they think you want to hear. But they would rather not wear them. Don't kid yourself

And then half the football team and their families came down with covid...

Lol. Sorry. I've coached 4 teams since the start of the pandemic. Not a single case on any my teams.

Or, they just aren't reporting it. We know of multiple cases of covid on our sports team and yet the coach/organization hasn't told us about one.

#silentspreaders

But...I'm the coach.

You're thinking that parents test their kids when they asymptomatic, get a positive result, but still send their kid to softball practice? That seems far fetched

I haven't even had a player out for a week or two. I mean, I guess I would presume they were out with Covid even if the parent didn't tell me but that hasnt even happened.

If they're asymptomatic? Yes. You can't really be that naive when dealing with the entitled parents of entitled kids.

But if a parent cared that little about spread, why would they test their kid in the first place?

That's the thing: only hyper-cautious people are testing their asymptomatic kids. So the person that cautious enough to test their healthy kid, but reckless enough to send them to practice with a positive test does not exist.

Also, again, despite coaching multiple teams over the last 2 years, there has not been outbreak on any of my teams (which all play outdoors, which is how this conversation began). Sure, that is an anecdotal data point. But it does take the wind out of the "then everyone on the team gets it and 22 grandparents die" because that is not what's happening.

The hyperbole is getting old

DP

Of course it’s not happening! We knew it wouldn’t happen. And yet, my kid still can’t have spectators at his basketball games. It’s ridiculous. Public health policy based on fear, not science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're right, this hyperbole is getting old.

You don't really care who lives or dies as long as you're fine.

JFC. you're impossible.

FFS, basketball games are not killing kids. And outdoor soccer or baseball games are ABSOLUTELY not killing the athletes or the spectators

You want to stop the death associated with COVID, put anyone older than 55 under house arrest.

After what we've done to kids the the last 2 years, it feels like an appropriate response

[Anonymous]

Has anyone looked at the Urgency of Normal website? They advocate for removing masks… We watched the Zoom presentation last night and some interesting points were made. There was a danish doc saying they never masked any kids under age 12 in her country. She also said in her line of work she’s been collecting data from neighboring school districts in the U.S., one with and one without a mask mandate. There were similar rates of covid reported within the schools.

I understand the need to keep vulnerable people safe… but if the kid masks are providing little to no protection… what’s the point? Esp for pre-K and early elementary school kids. I’m not anti-mask but I am pro-face.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone looked at the Urgency of Normal website? They advocate for removing masks… We watched the Zoom presentation last night and some interesting points were made. There was a danish doc saying they never masked any kids under age 12 in her country. She also said in her line of work she’s been collecting data from neighboring school districts in the U.S., one with and one without a mask mandate. There were similar rates of covid reported within the schools.

I understand the need to keep vulnerable people safe… but if the kid masks are providing little to no protection… what’s the point? Esp for pre-K and early elementary school kids. I’m not anti-mask but I am pro-face.

You are paid to push disinformation. Why is this allowed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone looked at the Urgency of Normal website? They advocate for removing masks… We watched the Zoom presentation last night and some interesting points were made. There was a danish doc saying they never masked any kids under age 12 in her country. She also said in her line of work she’s been collecting data from neighboring school districts in the U.S., one with and one without a mask mandate. There were similar rates of covid reported within the schools.

I understand the need to keep vulnerable people safe… but if the kid masks are providing little to no protection… what’s the point? Esp for pre-K and early elementary school kids. I’m not anti-mask but I am pro-face.

Ha, it’s funny that the only scientists doing this sort of analysis are outside the country. I’ve been saying for a while now that the data is there, why is no one looking at it? Childcares too, even with the same metro area.