APS mask policy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yay. More positive case emails from school. 😕 it’s going to be interesting the next few weeks.

What will happen is you will continue to get some notifications and Omicron will continue to trickle down and at some point we will be back at a new lower level of cases until the next variant. This is what happened and is happening in all the parts of the country and parts of Europe where the surge came and went and the whole time kids were unmasked.

I am not anti-masking at all and think it serves its purpose during surges (mostly as a tool for individuals to control their own risk exposure, as needed and wanted) and will put mine back on during a surge and my kids will too. But to suggest there will be some surge in cases in the next few weeks is giving yourself and the rest of us too much credit.

Also what will happen is unmasked kids will now quarantine.

[Anonymous]

By masking and staying home when we're sick, we are doing everything we can to keep schools open and keep as few kids/staff as possible from being infected and/or quarantined.

I think elementary schools where masking is most viewed as hindersome but where the age groups effected may not gain as much immunity from the vaccines may see increased absences over the next few weeks. I bet middle schools will be okay, seems like a lot of kids there are still wearing masks on their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yay. More positive case emails from school. 😕 it’s going to be interesting the next few weeks.

What will happen is you will continue to get some notifications and Omicron will continue to trickle down and at some point we will be back at a new lower level of cases until the next variant. This is what happened and is happening in all the parts of the country and parts of Europe where the surge came and went and the whole time kids were unmasked.

I am not anti-masking at all and think it serves its purpose during surges (mostly as a tool for individuals to control their own risk exposure, as needed and wanted) and will put mine back on during a surge and my kids will too. But to suggest there will be some surge in cases in the next few weeks is giving yourself and the rest of us too much credit.

That last sentence was utterly unnecessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Ok. But at what point will you unmask then? Never? If the CDC says, as it does now, that places like Arlington and DC don’t need to mask, what will convince you?

I am tired of COVID but I am even more tired of dealing with people who think "Never?" is even close to a reasonable guess.

I care about the spread and would like it to be lower -- if masking had continued until the end of March instead of the beginning, I think we might have gotten there.

I care about vaccination rates, and I am bummed that they stalled out.

I care about effective treatments, and I wish we had one.

I care about air quality, and I wish APS had done more on that front.

I don't know when my family will stop masking, because I don't know what is going to happen over the next few weeks. If rates stay low, I'll talk to my kids about whether they think unmasking at school is OK.

Cases are really low right now. 12/100,000 right now. Haven't been this low since November 2020. What's the magic number for you?

Will it feel awkward for you if cases continue to drop anyway?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yay. More positive case emails from school. 😕 it’s going to be interesting the next few weeks.

What will happen is you will continue to get some notifications and Omicron will continue to trickle down and at some point we will be back at a new lower level of cases until the next variant. This is what happened and is happening in all the parts of the country and parts of Europe where the surge came and went and the whole time kids were unmasked.

I am not anti-masking at all and think it serves its purpose during surges (mostly as a tool for individuals to control their own risk exposure, as needed and wanted) and will put mine back on during a surge and my kids will too. But to suggest there will be some surge in cases in the next few weeks is giving yourself and the rest of us too much credit.

Also what will happen is unmasked kids will now quarantine.

In APS? They won't if vaccinated. Unless I've missed something. Please post info. Would love to see it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yay. More positive case emails from school. 😕 it’s going to be interesting the next few weeks.

What will happen is you will continue to get some notifications and Omicron will continue to trickle down and at some point we will be back at a new lower level of cases until the next variant. This is what happened and is happening in all the parts of the country and parts of Europe where the surge came and went and the whole time kids were unmasked.

I am not anti-masking at all and think it serves its purpose during surges (mostly as a tool for individuals to control their own risk exposure, as needed and wanted) and will put mine back on during a surge and my kids will too. But to suggest there will be some surge in cases in the next few weeks is giving yourself and the rest of us too much credit.

Also what will happen is unmasked kids will now quarantine.

In APS? They won't if vaccinated. Unless I've missed something. Please post info. Would love to see it.

This person might be trying to imply al the unmasked kids will get sick and need to isolate.

Isolate is when you have covid and stay home.
Quarantine is when you are a close contact and stay home.

This is CDC terminology, not just arbitrary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yay. More positive case emails from school. 😕 it’s going to be interesting the next few weeks.

What will happen is you will continue to get some notifications and Omicron will continue to trickle down and at some point we will be back at a new lower level of cases until the next variant. This is what happened and is happening in all the parts of the country and parts of Europe where the surge came and went and the whole time kids were unmasked.

I am not anti-masking at all and think it serves its purpose during surges (mostly as a tool for individuals to control their own risk exposure, as needed and wanted) and will put mine back on during a surge and my kids will too. But to suggest there will be some surge in cases in the next few weeks is giving yourself and the rest of us too much credit.

Also what will happen is unmasked kids will now quarantine.

Not if they are vaxxed and asymptomatic, correct?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yay. More positive case emails from school. 😕 it’s going to be interesting the next few weeks.

Well based on the incubation period this most likely came from before the Great Unmasking, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:By masking and staying home when we're sick, we are doing everything we can to keep schools open and keep as few kids/staff as possible from being infected and/or quarantined.

I think elementary schools where masking is most viewed as hindersome but where the age groups effected may not gain as much immunity from the vaccines may see increased absences over the next few weeks. I bet middle schools will be okay, seems like a lot of kids there are still wearing masks on their own.

But none of these doomsday scenarios have come true? Does that give you pause?

Delta: The schools will not stay open! We will have to revert to virtual. The pediatric ICUs will fill up. NOPE.
Omicron: The schools will not stay open! We will have to revert to virtual. They have to eat lunch indoors because it's winter so THIS TIME, it's really all done for them. NOPE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yay. More positive case emails from school. 😕 it’s going to be interesting the next few weeks.

What will happen is you will continue to get some notifications and Omicron will continue to trickle down and at some point we will be back at a new lower level of cases until the next variant. This is what happened and is happening in all the parts of the country and parts of Europe where the surge came and went and the whole time kids were unmasked.

I am not anti-masking at all and think it serves its purpose during surges (mostly as a tool for individuals to control their own risk exposure, as needed and wanted) and will put mine back on during a surge and my kids will too. But to suggest there will be some surge in cases in the next few weeks is giving yourself and the rest of us too much credit.

Also what will happen is unmasked kids will now quarantine.

Not if they are vaxxed and asymptomatic, correct?

Yes, correct. This PP is giving incorrect info.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yay. More positive case emails from school. 😕 it’s going to be interesting the next few weeks.

What will happen is you will continue to get some notifications and Omicron will continue to trickle down and at some point we will be back at a new lower level of cases until the next variant. This is what happened and is happening in all the parts of the country and parts of Europe where the surge came and went and the whole time kids were unmasked.

I am not anti-masking at all and think it serves its purpose during surges (mostly as a tool for individuals to control their own risk exposure, as needed and wanted) and will put mine back on during a surge and my kids will too. But to suggest there will be some surge in cases in the next few weeks is giving yourself and the rest of us too much credit.

Also what will happen is unmasked kids will now quarantine.

Not if they are vaxxed and asymptomatic, correct?

Yes, correct. This PP is giving incorrect info.

The APS website says vaccinated kids do not have to quarantine IF they are masked. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Did that change?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yay. More positive case emails from school. 😕 it’s going to be interesting the next few weeks.

What will happen is you will continue to get some notifications and Omicron will continue to trickle down and at some point we will be back at a new lower level of cases until the next variant. This is what happened and is happening in all the parts of the country and parts of Europe where the surge came and went and the whole time kids were unmasked.

I am not anti-masking at all and think it serves its purpose during surges (mostly as a tool for individuals to control their own risk exposure, as needed and wanted) and will put mine back on during a surge and my kids will too. But to suggest there will be some surge in cases in the next few weeks is giving yourself and the rest of us too much credit.

Also what will happen is unmasked kids will now quarantine.

Not if they are vaxxed and asymptomatic, correct?

Yes, correct. This PP is giving incorrect info.

The APS website says vaccinated kids do not have to quarantine IF they are masked. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Did that change?

Where does it say this?

Masking is used to determine if you are a close contact or not. From their website:

Close Contact

A close contact is identified as a student within the classroom setting that meets any of the following criteria:

Within 3 feet of another masked student
Within 6 feet of another student without a mask
Within 6 feet of an adult regardless of mask usage
Within 6 feet of another student outside the classroom regardless of mask usage

However, once you are a close contact, if you are vaccinated you do not have to quarantine. The end.

https://www.apsva.us/school-year-2021-22/health-safety-information/contact-tracing-quarantine-isolation/

So it's possible unmasked kids will be identified as close contacts more often, that is true. But it won't have any real impact under current policies.

That is my understanding, at least.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yay. More positive case emails from school. 😕 it’s going to be interesting the next few weeks.

What will happen is you will continue to get some notifications and Omicron will continue to trickle down and at some point we will be back at a new lower level of cases until the next variant. This is what happened and is happening in all the parts of the country and parts of Europe where the surge came and went and the whole time kids were unmasked.

I am not anti-masking at all and think it serves its purpose during surges (mostly as a tool for individuals to control their own risk exposure, as needed and wanted) and will put mine back on during a surge and my kids will too. But to suggest there will be some surge in cases in the next few weeks is giving yourself and the rest of us too much credit.

Also what will happen is unmasked kids will now quarantine.

Not if they are vaxxed and asymptomatic, correct?

Yes, correct. This PP is giving incorrect info.

The APS website says vaccinated kids do not have to quarantine IF they are masked. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Did that change?

Where does it say this?

Masking is used to determine if you are a close contact or not. From their website:

Close Contact

A close contact is identified as a student within the classroom setting that meets any of the following criteria:

Within 3 feet of another masked student
Within 6 feet of another student without a mask
Within 6 feet of an adult regardless of mask usage
Within 6 feet of another student outside the classroom regardless of mask usage

However, once you are a close contact, if you are vaccinated you do not have to quarantine. The end.

https://www.apsva.us/school-year-2021-22/health-safety-information/contact-tracing-quarantine-isolation/

So it's possible unmasked kids will be identified as close contacts more often, that is true. But it won't have any real impact under current policies.

That is my understanding, at least.

Same poster again. There is the sentence in Exemption from Quarantine that says Students may be exempt from quarantine if they: Are able to follow current mask regulations.

Kids who don't wear masks ARE following the current mask regulations. So don't see how that impacts things either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yay. More positive case emails from school. 😕 it’s going to be interesting the next few weeks.

What will happen is you will continue to get some notifications and Omicron will continue to trickle down and at some point we will be back at a new lower level of cases until the next variant. This is what happened and is happening in all the parts of the country and parts of Europe where the surge came and went and the whole time kids were unmasked.

I am not anti-masking at all and think it serves its purpose during surges (mostly as a tool for individuals to control their own risk exposure, as needed and wanted) and will put mine back on during a surge and my kids will too. But to suggest there will be some surge in cases in the next few weeks is giving yourself and the rest of us too much credit.

Also what will happen is unmasked kids will now quarantine.

Not if they are vaxxed and asymptomatic, correct?

Yes, correct. This PP is giving incorrect info.

The APS website says vaccinated kids do not have to quarantine IF they are masked. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Did that change?

Where does it say this?

Masking is used to determine if you are a close contact or not. From their website:

Close Contact

A close contact is identified as a student within the classroom setting that meets any of the following criteria:

Within 3 feet of another masked student
Within 6 feet of another student without a mask
Within 6 feet of an adult regardless of mask usage
Within 6 feet of another student outside the classroom regardless of mask usage

However, once you are a close contact, if you are vaccinated you do not have to quarantine. The end.

https://www.apsva.us/school-year-2021-22/health-safety-information/contact-tracing-quarantine-isolation/

So it's possible unmasked kids will be identified as close contacts more often, that is true. But it won't have any real impact under current policies.

That is my understanding, at least.

You missed this part:

Exemption from Quarantine

1. Students and staff who are identified as close contacts may be exempt from quarantine if they:

Are up to date on vaccinations, including boosters*, per CDC criteria; AND
Are able to follow current mask regulations; AND
Are asymptomatic

[Anonymous]

It just seems odd that APS has not put out any specific info on that, it must be a question on many parents minds.