AlexNow reporting that ACPS to provide n95 surgical masks to staff and students

[Anonymous]

Given the shortened isolation and quarantine guidelines without proof of a negative test and the fact that someone who tested positive could still being contagious from days 5-10, why CDC did not actually specify what it meant by a well-fitting mask to be worn for the 5 days post-isolation or 10 days if one is vaccinated and boosted is mystifying. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/cloth-face-mask-omicron-11640984082)

The Omicron surge will peak soon and will probably be over by the end of the month or mid-February at the latest. If ACPS and other Nova school districts are serious about keeping disruptions to a minimum during the surge, they should distribute a supply of high-quality masks to all families who want them and strongly encourage their use, at least until the middle of February. With the shortage in testing, purchasing better masks is the one thing school districts can use the millions they received in CARES/ESSER money on to proactively to keep schools open as smoothly as possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My vaccinated kids had covid over break. The masks are purely decorative at this point.

Cloth masks are decorative. Higher quality medical-grade masks work, hence why medical professionals wear them.

Yes, this is my point. My vaccinated kids JUST got over Covid, so they don't really need to wear masks, as they are pretty immune at the moment. So the decorative cloth masks will work just fine for appearances.

They can still get the other variant of the two that are still circulating. And even if they were completely immune, that's mighty self-entered of you. Your kids are lucky, though! N95s are way more comfy than cloth

Sure, they could. And they would likely, again, have zero symptoms. As that is what just happened. So they've had the vaccine, and actual covid, and were 100% fine, with zero symptoms. Do you really think that exposure to another variant is going to do them serious harm? I believe that vaccines work, and that it prevented my kids from having symptoms. I think if they were exposed again they would be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Given the shortened isolation and quarantine guidelines without proof of a negative test and the fact that someone who tested positive could still being contagious from days 5-10, why CDC did not actually specify what it meant by a well-fitting mask to be worn for the 5 days post-isolation or 10 days if one is vaccinated and boosted is mystifying. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/cloth-face-mask-omicron-11640984082)

The Omicron surge will peak soon and will probably be over by the end of the month or mid-February at the latest. If ACPS and other Nova school districts are serious about keeping disruptions to a minimum during the surge, they should distribute a supply of high-quality masks to all families who want them and strongly encourage their use, at least until the middle of February. With the shortage in testing, purchasing better masks is the one thing school districts can use the millions they received in CARES/ESSER money on to proactively to keep schools open as smoothly as possible.

+1. Since I’ve heard nothing from ACPS about distribution of better masks, I’m going to assume they have yet to be purchased.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No way. They are horrible for breathing. To avoid catching a cold? Heck no. My kids will wear paper masks or the cloth masks style they can tolerate.

The masks are to help mitigate against a worldwide pandemic that has killed over 825K Americans, not a “cold.”

+1. So sick of the freaking “HURR DURR cold, HURR DURR sniffles” idiots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Send your kid in them but I will fight to the death over requiring these for kids to wear all day. Most adults can’t tolerate these for an hour.

Oh, the freaking melodrama of it all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Send your kid in them but I will fight to the death over requiring these for kids to wear all day. Most adults can’t tolerate these for an hour.

The only adults who "can't tolerate these (masks) for an hour" are the mentally ill. Since you're willing to "fight to the death over requiring these (masks) for kids to wear all day" it surely sounds like you, indeed, are mentally ill. Please get help for yourself so that you can be a better person and a better parent.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No way. They are horrible for breathing. To avoid catching a cold? Heck no. My kids will wear paper masks or the cloth masks style they can tolerate.

The masks are to help mitigate against a worldwide pandemic that has killed over 825K Americans, not a “cold.”

+1. So sick of the freaking “HURR DURR cold, HURR DURR sniffles” idiots.

Well, there are way, way, way more people that had cold/sniffles than anything remotely approaching serious illness. Hooray for vaccines. And I think they are getting sick of the hysteria from the other side. It is reaching rather a fevered pitch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Send your kid in them but I will fight to the death over requiring these for kids to wear all day. Most adults can’t tolerate these for an hour.

Oh, the freaking melodrama of it all.

Seriously. KN95 and KN94 masks are legitimately more comfortable than a cloth mask. I've worn them for 8-10 hour shifts without any issue. They are clearly effective in my experience. My kids are 3 and 7 and they have absolutely no problem with them.

And that person should not speak for for all adults. If that's the hill you will die on, you need to find a better hill.

[Anonymous]

I’m the PP who asked if KN95/KF94 masks might be strongly encouraged, especially for those who had tested positive and are not out of their 10-day infectious period. If ACPS is serious about equity, then start distributing higher filtration masks to all families who want them. Why do you think Jacinta Greene said “there are segments of our community that are truly afraid to send their kids to school right now”? Why did she ask about hybrid learning? Come on, ACPS, meet families halfway, at least encourage something that will reduce transmission if you can’t distribute rapid tests like DCPS or MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Attention: please verify that the N95 distributed by your school system are actually authorized for use by the FDA.

There is a controversy in MCPS that KN95s distributed to teachers were actually counterfeit masks.

[Anonymous]

A lot of snowflakes in here who are incapable of wearing masks. Pretty stunning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We switched to KF94 in September. I think we will have an exposure by the end of the first week.

I agree there will be an exposure the first week back. I’ve been trying to order KF94 for kids since mid-December, with no luck. If ACPS is providing them, it likely won’t be any time soon.

I ordered BOTN from Be Healthy and got them within a week.

[Anonymous]

Opt out testing is really irresponsible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My vaccinated kids had covid over break. The masks are purely decorative at this point.

Cloth masks are decorative. Higher quality medical-grade masks work, hence why medical professionals wear them.

Yes, this is my point. My vaccinated kids JUST got over Covid, so they don't really need to wear masks, as they are pretty immune at the moment. So the decorative cloth masks will work just fine for appearances.

You can get covid twice, same variant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No way. They are horrible for breathing. To avoid catching a cold? Heck no. My kids will wear paper masks or the cloth masks style they can tolerate.

Are you crazy? They're so much more comfortable and easier to breathe in than a cloth mask. You've clearly never tried one.