Masks optional by spring break

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a medical worker who has had two fully vaxed and boosted coworkers catch Omicron - please keep masks on. I would rather see kids in schools with masks then a rise of Covid cases and schools closed. Immunity from Covid is a very fleeting thing.

So vaxxed, boosted, and presumably mask wearing people caught it and the conclusion is that everyone else should continue to do those things because clearly they work to stop covid? Why is no one thinking, hmm none of these measures seem to stop spread so let’s give them up?

What we now know about Omicron - the type of mask does make a difference. That’s why there’s encouragement for staff and students to wear KN95 and N95 masks. Cloth masks are only minimally effective. Tight fitting surgical masks are better. KN95 and N95 are best. Any mask is better than no mask.

As far as when my coworkers got COVID, it may have been on the job but also could have been anywhere. Same for the rise in COVID in MCPS staff and students that was linked with Winter Break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a medical worker who has had two fully vaxed and boosted coworkers catch Omicron - please keep masks on. I would rather see kids in schools with masks then a rise of Covid cases and schools closed. Immunity from Covid is a very fleeting thing.

Well, how did your coworkers catch covid? We’re they wearing their N95s (like DCUM tells me they do happily all day) or were they working maskless? If it’s the former, that’s not exactly an endorsement to keep masks on and if it’s the latter, why are we asking kids to mask for 8 hours in school when medical workers aren’t?

If they didn’t get it at work, how TF is them being medical workers relevant?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people assume that "masks optional" means "no masks?"

Don't you think there's some value in letting the people who are really uncomfortable make their own choices?

My kids will wear masks either way so long as community transmission rates are high.

No, because their mask wearing protects me.

Everyone wearing masks means vulnerable populations can continue to attend school without being singled out. Immunocompromised kids deserve to go to school. Masks are such a small thing. It’s silly to get so worked up about it.

I say this as a Covid-careful, complying with all the rules, putting-others-first good citizen: This HAS to be a balancing act. We need to let go of the absolutism here. Even without Covid, masks protect students who are immunocompromised and their families. So are we going to mandate masks during flu season?

Public health measures are about weighing costs and benefits. There has to be a moment when the costs outweigh the benefits. Even if we don't agree about precisely when that is, can we all accept that for every public health measure -- every rule, every law, for that matter -- there are costs, and there are benefits, and generally-speaking we do best as a shared society when we are sensitive to the point at which one outweighs the other.

So look. You don't have to agree with otherwise-reasonable people who don't like wearing masks and don't like their kids wearing them. But as a public health measure, they are not nearly as protective as vaccination.

And the research is clear and also not-so-clear. Unequivocally, community masking reduces the spread of Covid. But which masks, which variants, and how much? There are no randomized clinical trials in vaccinated populations. If we are talking about a 10% reduction of a huge number -- then that's one thing. 10% reduction of a small number? THat's another.

Again, for me personally, i don't mind masks (especially in winter!) But at this point you have to acknowledge that some people really do mind.

It has to be a balancing act.

Personally, once (if!) case rates fall way back down, I would rather we put our political capital towards vaccination and boosting, primarily.

I don't want to miss the forest for the trees, here. So I would prefer that others wear masks, all things considered -- but also, there comes a point when the benefit to the public health no longer outweighs the cost, and we're all served by being alert to the point at which that weight shifts in one direction or the other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people assume that "masks optional" means "no masks?"

Don't you think there's some value in letting the people who are really uncomfortable make their own choices?

My kids will wear masks either way so long as community transmission rates are high.

No, because their mask wearing protects me.

Everyone wearing masks means vulnerable populations can continue to attend school without being singled out. Immunocompromised kids deserve to go to school. Masks are such a small thing. It’s silly to get so worked up about it.

Cloth masks don’t do anything…they aren’t protecting immunocompromised kids, you joker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people assume that "masks optional" means "no masks?"

Don't you think there's some value in letting the people who are really uncomfortable make their own choices?

My kids will wear masks either way so long as community transmission rates are high.

No, because their mask wearing protects me.

Everyone wearing masks means vulnerable populations can continue to attend school without being singled out. Immunocompromised kids deserve to go to school. Masks are such a small thing. It’s silly to get so worked up about it.

I say this as a Covid-careful, complying with all the rules, putting-others-first good citizen: This HAS to be a balancing act. We need to let go of the absolutism here. Even without Covid, masks protect students who are immunocompromised and their families. So are we going to mandate masks during flu season?

Public health measures are about weighing costs and benefits. There has to be a moment when the costs outweigh the benefits. Even if we don't agree about precisely when that is, can we all accept that for every public health measure -- every rule, every law, for that matter -- there are costs, and there are benefits, and generally-speaking we do best as a shared society when we are sensitive to the point at which one outweighs the other.

So look. You don't have to agree with otherwise-reasonable people who don't like wearing masks and don't like their kids wearing them. But as a public health measure, they are not nearly as protective as vaccination.

And the research is clear and also not-so-clear. Unequivocally, community masking reduces the spread of Covid. But which masks, which variants, and how much? There are no randomized clinical trials in vaccinated populations. If we are talking about a 10% reduction of a huge number -- then that's one thing. 10% reduction of a small number? THat's another.

Again, for me personally, i don't mind masks (especially in winter!) But at this point you have to acknowledge that some people really do mind.

It has to be a balancing act.

Personally, once (if!) case rates fall way back down, I would rather we put our political capital towards vaccination and boosting, primarily.

I don't want to miss the forest for the trees, here. So I would prefer that others wear masks, all things considered -- but also, there comes a point when the benefit to the public health no longer outweighs the cost, and we're all served by being alert to the point at which that weight shifts in one direction or the other.

+1
Thank you for such a rational, thoughtful post.

There are harms to kids from wearing masks indefinitely in educational settings; those need to be taken into account, too. If wearing masks causes difficulties for at least some percentage of kids learning how to read, how to recognize emotions, etc., we need to include those in the cost-benefit analysis. It’s not a progressive stance to say that literacy and socioemotional learning don’t matter, despite many protests to the contrary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can’t make an April public health policy based on January data.

+1

[Anonymous]

Unless we want to be in another wave, mask wearing should be required. The second we lax on the mask wearing, we go into the rise in cases and deaths, etc. By the time we re-instate a mask mandate it's TOO LATE.

I'd rather the kids (and all of us) wear masks (because they really don't care -- it's the adults who are dipshits) and continue on with their daily lives, activities, etc. than have to go into these waves every two months where everyone is panicking about what to do about playdates and birthday parties and basketball games.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unless we want to be in another wave, mask wearing should be required. The second we lax on the mask wearing, we go into the rise in cases and deaths, etc. By the time we re-instate a mask mandate it's TOO LATE.

I'd rather the kids (and all of us) wear masks (because they really don't care -- it's the adults who are dipshits) and continue on with their daily lives, activities, etc. than have to go into these waves every two months where everyone is panicking about what to do about playdates and birthday parties and basketball games.

So how do you explain the fact that everyone was masked when we had this omicron wave? Where was mask wearing “lax” that caused the omicron wave? Not schools where we’re talking about. Or moco where there is a mask mandate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people assume that "masks optional" means "no masks?"

Don't you think there's some value in letting the people who are really uncomfortable make their own choices?

My kids will wear masks either way so long as community transmission rates are high.

No, because their mask wearing protects me.

Everyone wearing masks means vulnerable populations can continue to attend school without being singled out. Immunocompromised kids deserve to go to school. Masks are such a small thing. It’s silly to get so worked up about it.

It’s a small thing for high schoolers when the weather is cold. It’s not a small thing for kids learning to read and pre schoolers developing basic language skills. It’s not a small thing when it’s 85+ degrees.

For any mitigation measure we need to constantly ask and answer: Whats the goal? Who are we protecting? At what cost?

There’s got to be an off ramp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a medical worker who has had two fully vaxed and boosted coworkers catch Omicron - please keep masks on. I would rather see kids in schools with masks then a rise of Covid cases and schools closed. Immunity from Covid is a very fleeting thing.

Thank you for speaking truth.

[Anonymous]

I think everyone would agree the best case scenario is that covid is over by Spring Break. Having said that, I remember in September when the parents were pushing for no masks. Imagine the disaster that would have been?

"The worst case scenario is something we have to be prepared for. And that is we do get down to a level that we say would be 'adequate control,' but we are faced with another surprise with a variant that's so different that it eludes the accumulation of the immune protection that we've gotten from vaccinations and from prior infections, I hope that doesn't happen. I can't give you a statistic of what the chance of that happening is, but we have to be prepared for it. So we hope for the best and prepare for the worst."
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/dr-fauci-lays-best-worst-173020029.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

"work done by scientists in Durban has shown how COVID can mutate inside the bodies of those with untreated HIV. In one case, they traced a coronavirus sample to a 36-year-old HIV patient who was struggling to adhere to her antiretroviral treatment regime. Over the course of her seven-month COVID infection, the virus acquired 32 mutations. The risk is clear. New variants of concern could evolve - and be transmitted - by those with weakened immune systems."
https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-south-african-...reated-hiv-population-12522430

“The faster Omicron spreads, the more opportunities there are for mutation, potentially leading to more variants,” said Leonardo Martinez, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Boston University." "Along with keeping comparatively healthy people out of work and school, the ease with which the variant spreads increases the odds that the virus will infect and linger inside people with weakened immune systems — giving it more time to develop potent mutations." “It’s the longer, persistent infections that seem to be the most likely breeding grounds for new variants,” said Dr. Stuart Campbell Ray, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins University. “It’s only when you have very widespread infection that you’re going to provide the opportunity for that to occur.” “These huge unvaccinated swaths in the U.S., Africa, Asia, Latin America and elsewhere are basically variant factories,”
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-01...-after-omicron-scientists-warn

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this is a reasonable goal given our vaccination rates, decline of omicron, success of mask optional schools in neighboring Virginia, announcement from the archdiocese of Arlington… there is so much data to support this too.

What do you think?

You're on every thread for every school district. Wacko.

I don’t care about other school districts. I live in MoCo. But seeing what’s happening in VA makes me excited. Let’s goooooo, MCPS! Normalcy for kids is long overdue!!

You are delusional. The reason why VA has mask optional now is because of their solidly right wing governor.

Hogan believes in masks, but also allows local control.

MoCo is uber left wing, highly anxious and careful about covid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless we want to be in another wave, mask wearing should be required. The second we lax on the mask wearing, we go into the rise in cases and deaths, etc. By the time we re-instate a mask mandate it's TOO LATE.

I'd rather the kids (and all of us) wear masks (because they really don't care -- it's the adults who are dipshits) and continue on with their daily lives, activities, etc. than have to go into these waves every two months where everyone is panicking about what to do about playdates and birthday parties and basketball games.

So how do you explain the fact that everyone was masked when we had this omicron wave? Where was mask wearing “lax” that caused the omicron wave? Not schools where we’re talking about. Or moco where there is a mask mandate.

One more time for those in the back. MASKS ARE NOT WORN AT LUNCH IN MCPS. LUNCH IS INDOORS. VENTILATION IS HORRIBLE. Got it yet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people assume that "masks optional" means "no masks?"

Don't you think there's some value in [b]1 - letting the people who are really uncomfortable make their own choices?[/b]

2 - My kids will wear masks either way so long as community transmission rates are high.

No, because their mask wearing protects me.

Everyone wearing masks means vulnerable populations can continue to attend school without being singled out. Immunocompromised kids deserve to go to school. Masks are such a small thing. It’s silly to get so worked up about it.

I say this as a Covid-careful, complying with all the rules, putting-others-first good citizen: This HAS to be a balancing act. We need to let go of the absolutism here. Even without Covid, masks protect students who are immunocompromised and their families. 3 - So are we going to mandate masks during flu season?

Public health measures are about weighing costs and benefits. There has to be a moment when the costs outweigh the benefits.4 - Even if we don't agree about precisely when that is, can we all accept that for every public health measure -- every rule, every law, for that matter -- there are costs, and there are benefits, and generally-speaking we do best as a shared society when 5 - we are sensitive to the point at which one outweighs the other.

So look. You don't have to agree with otherwise-reasonable people who don't like wearing masks and don't like their kids wearing them. But as a public health measure, 6 - they are not nearly as protective as vaccination.

And the research is clear and also not-so-clear. Unequivocally, community masking reduces the spread of Covid. But which masks, which variants, and how much? There are no randomized clinical trials in vaccinated populations. If we are talking about a 10% reduction of a huge number -- then that's one thing. 10% reduction of a small number? THat's another.

Again, for me personally, i don't mind masks (especially in winter!) But at this point you have to acknowledge that some people really do mind.

It has to be a balancing act.

Personally, once (if!) case rates fall way back down, I would rather we put our political capital towards vaccination and boosting, primarily.

I don't want to miss the forest for the trees, here. So I would prefer that others wear masks, all things considered -- but also, there comes a point when the benefit to the public health no longer outweighs the cost, and we're all served by being alert to the point at which that weight shifts in one direction or the other.

+1
Thank you for such a rational, thoughtful post.

There are harms to kids from wearing masks indefinitely in educational settings; those need to be taken into account, too. If wearing masks causes difficulties for at least some percentage of kids learning how to read, how to recognize emotions, etc., we need to include those in the cost-benefit analysis. It’s not a progressive stance to say that literacy and socioemotional learning don’t matter, despite many protests to the contrary.

1 - Car seat belts are not a 'choice' and they're done for the good of society?
2 - At the start the U.S. had only 4 covid cases. Think plague, not flu.
3 - The analogy is flawed. Normal seasonal flu does not fill up ER's, however if you do remember the Bird Flu, Swine Flu, Anthrax and Ebola, those required different measures due to the consequences involved?
4 - This is in-denial that the covid pandemic is ongoing and active. This is not a hypothetical, this is a reality.
5 - Cut the seatbelts out of your car, then we'll talk.
6 - Masks reduce the amount of virus inhaled, thereby buys time for your immune system to react. No one also knows the long term effects of repeated covid infections (ex. does your lung build up scar tissue to generate "glassy lungs" like asbestos does?

The way you try to make your arguments sound as if they're reasonable and rational leads me to believe you're someone looking to cause harm to the children?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless we want to be in another wave, mask wearing should be required. The second we lax on the mask wearing, we go into the rise in cases and deaths, etc. By the time we re-instate a mask mandate it's TOO LATE.

I'd rather the kids (and all of us) wear masks (because they really don't care -- it's the adults who are dipshits) and continue on with their daily lives, activities, etc. than have to go into these waves every two months where everyone is panicking about what to do about playdates and birthday parties and basketball games.

So how do you explain the fact that everyone was masked when we had this omicron wave? Where was mask wearing “lax” that caused the omicron wave? Not schools where we’re talking about. Or moco where there is a mask mandate.

One more time for those in the back. MASKS ARE NOT WORN AT LUNCH IN MCPS. LUNCH IS INDOORS. VENTILATION IS HORRIBLE. Got it yet?

So why it ditch them for the rest of the day then? If we’re gonna throw it out the window for lunch? If it doesn’t matter bc we have unmasked time, then why make kids wear them the rest of the time? I know I know “it’s not a big deal to wear a mask”