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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You do know that the Russian Trolls pretend to be BLM as much as they pretend to be MAGA, right?

They don't care about sides of an issue as long as they are sowing discontent.

It would be just as reasonable to accuse the mask-forever posts of being Russian Trolls (though the reality is that DCUM isn't worth trolling by Russia)

Russian or not, some group is regularly trolling here! And often not very adeptly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do know that the Russian Trolls pretend to be BLM as much as they pretend to be MAGA, right?

They don't care about sides of an issue as long as they are sowing discontent.

It would be just as reasonable to accuse the mask-forever posts of being Russian Trolls (though the reality is that DCUM isn't worth trolling by Russia)

Russian or not, some group is regularly trolling here! And often not very adeptly.

Well yeah. I'm sure there are.

But its also too easy to dismiss any viewpoint you disagree with as "don't feed the trolls"

For example, I would like to see the mask mandate lifted in schools, especially at the HS level where kids are vaccinated.

So when I see a post that says "we should always keep the mask mandate, especially in the winter times, to avoid the flu", its easy for me to think that's a troll. But it's probably not.

Same with the reverse. We need to accept that there are differing opinions in the community and reject the idea that anybody that disagrees with us is just some "paid imposter that is not from the community"

[Anonymous]

In 2022 masks should only be required fir non vaccinated students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has gotten really off track. I'd like to start a new thread on the topic of masking, but the moderators stopped one that another person started a few days ago becuase this thread was created for that purpose. I would really like to see the state (and then MCPS) to back off the mask mandate in schools as soon as our younger students have the opportunity to be two weeks past their second vaccination. I don't see the point of everyone getting vaccinated if we are not able to live our lives unmasked afterward. We are one of, if not most highly vaccinated counties in the nation. It's time to move past the restrictions and put this behind us. Yes, there will still be cases of Covid here and there, but not enough to warrant an entire population of vaccination having to mask for an indeterminate amount of time.

I agree that this thread got totally off track, but honestly, no mask thread ever stays on track. It devolves every time by incoherent, irrational people on all sides. As the mother of a hearing-impaired child, I would love a conversation about when classrooms can be mask-free, but some people just aren’t ready to even have the conversation.

I mean, the obvious answer is, "When children aged 5-11 get vaccinated," but the majority of people aren't planning to get their children aged 5-11 vaccinated...

Most people WILL get their kids vaccinated but they want to know the short and long term issues before getting it. The sample size of the study was 1500 kids so very small.

The test size is reasonable. The question is not is there any risk to getting the vax, but rather is the risk of the vax greater than the risk associated with contracting covid? We already know the vax is safe with kids aged 12 and up with millions of vaccinations given. That and the recent study for 5-11 gave the FDA confidence.

There are issues that have come up with the vaccine.

But are the risks of the vaccine greater than the risks of contracting covid?

We don't know yet. 3000 kids is too small, given that COVID usually mild in kids. It "safe enough" from my perspective, but we won't be sure until after a few hundred thousand kids get the second dose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people seem to be in denial about the new reality.

Seat belts are forever.
Air bags are forever.
Safety helmets are forever.
Heck, even Driver's Licenses are forever.

As long as Covid is a "thing" - don't understand why anyone is against wearing a mask? Apparently wearing masks not only works, but I'll bet you saw an overall drop in sick-days from the flu and other airborne-transmittable diseases. You seem to believe that covid is "over" in the U.S., or perhaps that there's a magic shield that separates Montgomery County from the rest of reality?

What is amazing is this desperate, almost incomprehensible push to unmask BEFORE all U.S. children are vaccinated? Why is that? Why would someone be so absolutely desperate to push for unmasking U.S. children (a) prior to full U.S. vaccination and, (b) just before cold and flu season set in?

Please explain. Would like to hear the very detailed rationale that doesn't involve self-absorbed vanity, support of political propaganda prior to mid-term elections, or someone just trying to do harm to this country?

Covid is never going to stop being a "thing." Are you going to wear a mask forever? Many people who aren't you, won't.

NP here. Most of the people we know will continue to wear masks. I think the "remove-masks-now" people are Russian trolls. Who else would want US to fail?

Until when?

Two more weeks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do know that the Russian Trolls pretend to be BLM as much as they pretend to be MAGA, right?

They don't care about sides of an issue as long as they are sowing discontent.

It would be just as reasonable to accuse the mask-forever posts of being Russian Trolls (though the reality is that DCUM isn't worth trolling by Russia)

Russian or not, some group is regularly trolling here! And often not very adeptly.

Well yeah. I'm sure there are.

But its also too easy to dismiss any viewpoint you disagree with as "don't feed the trolls"

For example, I would like to see the mask mandate lifted in schools, especially at the HS level where kids are vaccinated.

So when I see a post that says "we should always keep the mask mandate, especially in the winter times, to avoid the flu", its easy for me to think that's a troll. But it's probably not.

Same with the reverse. We need to accept that there are differing opinions in the community and reject the idea that anybody that disagrees with us is just some "paid imposter that is not from the community"

High schools are still having positives. Masking is important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In 2022 masks should only be required fir non vaccinated students.

We need more effective vaccines then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a SAHM with a HS kid. We all are vaccinated, we mask everywhere. My DH has a cushy. secure and well paying job and he can work from home. If a variation of COVID spreads again, we will be minimally impacted, just like we were least impacted when MCPS was doing remote learning.

There are tons of households that are hanging on by a thread and will suffer if the school closes. I think we should continue with masking and vaccinating (also boosters), so that we are as safe as we can be.

Masks are not hard. Being isolated during the pandemic was hard. Lets all help out the businesses and restaurants, lets help the office, schools open - just wear the darn masks.

How were you isolated? We’ve never had a real lockdown and most people have lived life as normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do know that the Russian Trolls pretend to be BLM as much as they pretend to be MAGA, right?

They don't care about sides of an issue as long as they are sowing discontent.

It would be just as reasonable to accuse the mask-forever posts of being Russian Trolls (though the reality is that DCUM isn't worth trolling by Russia)

Russian or not, some group is regularly trolling here! And often not very adeptly.

Well yeah. I'm sure there are.

But its also too easy to dismiss any viewpoint you disagree with as "don't feed the trolls"

For example, I would like to see the mask mandate lifted in schools, especially at the HS level where kids are vaccinated.

So when I see a post that says "we should always keep the mask mandate, especially in the winter times, to avoid the flu", its easy for me to think that's a troll. But it's probably not.

Same with the reverse. We need to accept that there are differing opinions in the community and reject the idea that anybody that disagrees with us is just some "paid imposter that is not from the community"

High schools are still having positives. Masking is important.

Sure thing, Russian Troll.

J/K. But you see my point? Too easy to just call you a troll.

But really, positive cases are no longer the metric we need to worry about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In 2022 masks should only be required fir non vaccinated students.

Based on what exactly? Your personal preference?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people seem to be in denial about the new reality.

Seat belts are forever.
Air bags are forever.
Safety helmets are forever.
Heck, even Driver's Licenses are forever.

As long as Covid is a "thing" - don't understand why anyone is against wearing a mask? Apparently wearing masks not only works, but I'll bet you saw an overall drop in sick-days from the flu and other airborne-transmittable diseases. You seem to believe that covid is "over" in the U.S., or perhaps that there's a magic shield that separates Montgomery County from the rest of reality?

What is amazing is this desperate, almost incomprehensible push to unmask BEFORE all U.S. children are vaccinated? Why is that? Why would someone be so absolutely desperate to push for unmasking U.S. children (a) prior to full U.S. vaccination and, (b) just before cold and flu season set in?

Please explain. Would like to hear the very detailed rationale that doesn't involve self-absorbed vanity, support of political propaganda prior to mid-term elections, or someone just trying to do harm to this country?

Covid is never going to stop being a "thing." Are you going to wear a mask forever? Many people who aren't you, won't.

Sure, why not? In some countries masks are used and have been for years to limit spread of communicable illness.

[Anonymous]

Real Russian Troll here. Russian is in the midst of its 4 th wave, hitting record deaths and cases every day. The country is struggling with low immunization uptake and poor mask compliance. They are in a nationwide shutdown currently. Russian trolls are pro-mask. I bet the asteoturfer has a little office in the Kremlin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS will announce changes to quarantine rules tomorrow.

Well MoCo just reinstated the mask requirement because we regressed in terms of rate of infection in the tiny window where the indoor mask mandate was dropped. Go figure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do know that the Russian Trolls pretend to be BLM as much as they pretend to be MAGA, right?

They don't care about sides of an issue as long as they are sowing discontent.

It would be just as reasonable to accuse the mask-forever posts of being Russian Trolls (though the reality is that DCUM isn't worth trolling by Russia)

Russian or not, some group is regularly trolling here! And often not very adeptly.

Well yeah. I'm sure there are.

But its also too easy to dismiss any viewpoint you disagree with as "don't feed the trolls"

For example, I would like to see the mask mandate lifted in schools, especially at the HS level where kids are vaccinated.

So when I see a post that says "we should always keep the mask mandate, especially in the winter times, to avoid the flu", its easy for me to think that's a troll. But it's probably not.

Same with the reverse. We need to accept that there are differing opinions in the community and reject the idea that anybody that disagrees with us is just some "paid imposter that is not from the community"

High schools are still having positives. Masking is important.

Sure thing, Russian Troll.

J/K. But you see my point? Too easy to just call you a troll.

But really, positive cases are no longer the metric we need to worry about.

I am not calling anyone a troll but saying positives don’t matter is very trolling as it is important to stop community spread. Look at the md Covid in school and there are lots of outbreaks. You sound like a trolling Covid denier. .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS will announce changes to quarantine rules tomorrow.

Well MoCo just reinstated the mask requirement because we regressed in terms of rate of infection in the tiny window where the indoor mask mandate was dropped. Go figure.

They are only talking about it but changing the rules to get around their masking policy. Doubt it will be reinstated.