When should DC drop its school mask mandate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:are y'all aware there are high risk and immune compromised kids in every school?

Yes. What’s your point?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do think the total number of omicron cases are not directly comparable to alpha or delta given it is much less severe in those who are vaccinated.

The down trend in cases should make it feasible to remove masks maybe in March? Is that not unreasonable?

The masks need to go, in general. We should not tie them to any more spikes in cases, variants, etc. THEY NEVER WORKED, at any point for the last two years. If they did, California's rates would be much lower than Texas'. If they mattered for children ever, you'd see major differences in infection rates, severity, hospitalizations and deaths among children on a state by state basis, and big differences among US kids vs. other countries that never masked children under 5. Trust the science? Trust the data? Well, there it is, as obvious as ever, for quite some time now.

This. Stop masking kids now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:the responses here were not was I was expecting and I'm pleasantly surprised.

People were going to crack eventually and I for one am here for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Today! Get rid of the mask mandates today, immediately. DC daily stats are very low. If someone wants to continue to mask up go ahead, no one will stop you or your child.

Except that the daily stats are not actually very low. They’ve actually plateaued high.

You can’t just make up facts.

Nor can you (make up daily stats). Check https://coronavirus.dc.gov/key-metrics

Umm that shows a weekly case rate of 231.6 /100k. That’s close to as high as ever pre-omicron.

Did you actually understand the data. You are referring to a "weekly" case rate from Jan 31. That is a week ago which includes cases 7 days prior to Jan 31. Todays numbers are much lower (note the daily rate posted on Jan 31 is only 33 cases) which is nowhere near 231. Please read ALL the date/info, case numbers have dropped like a rock.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:are y'all aware there are high risk and immune compromised kids in every school?

Experts are now saying that immunocomprised people can protect themselves well by wearing high quality medical grade masks. How about we make sure any child who needs it has access to a K95, instead of forcing all kids to wear ineffective cotton masks.

This would actually protect higher risk kids better than the current situation, while ALSO serving the needs of kids who are not at high risk of Covid and actually also deserve our support and care.

Or we could keep doing what we are now doing, which serves no one.

[Anonymous]

I agree with other posters here that Bowser is unlikely to lift it anytime soon, as she's a follower, not a leader and has refused to provide real metrics for an off ramp to COVID restrictions (as well as just renewing her emergency powers again w/out anyone objecting). What will need to happen is more and more kids peacefully resisting this draconian rule (as kids in California and elsewhere are doing now) and more parents writing to DCPS demanding change.

Long term yes it would be nice if we actually had an opposition party in this town that could push back on the decades long stranglehold of Dem rule in DC.

OK, back to checking how many people were carjacked, robbed, or shot today. . . . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Relevant to this thread:
https://newrepublic.com/article/165306/face-masks-dont-harm-kids-development

I'll counter your opinion piece by a journalist with an opinion piece by a doctor and expert in evidence based medicine:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/09/school-mask-mandates-downside/619952/

Also, this:

"Imposing on millions of children an intervention that provides little discernible benefit, on the grounds that we have not yet gathered solid evidence of its negative effects, violates the most basic tenet of medicine: First, do no harm. The foundation of medical and public-health interventions should be that they work, not that we have insufficient evidence to say whether they are harmful. Continued mandatory masking of children in schools, especially now that most schoolchildren are eligible for vaccination, fails this test."

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/kids-masks-schools-weak-science/621133/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the responses here were not was I was expecting and I'm pleasantly surprised.

People were going to crack eventually and I for one am here for it.

+1. Just as a side note my kids say that their two DCPS schools are starting to slack off on mask enforcement. One DC took his mask off for an entire study hall one day last week- just because he felt like it and I guess to see what would happen- and no one said a word. That wouldn’t have happened 3 weeks ago

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the responses here were not was I was expecting and I'm pleasantly surprised.

People were going to crack eventually and I for one am here for it.

+1. Just as a side note my kids say that their two DCPS schools are starting to slack off on mask enforcement. One DC took his mask off for an entire study hall one day last week- just because he felt like it and I guess to see what would happen- and no one said a word. That wouldn’t have happened 3 weeks ago

I am a HS teacher who really thought masks were absurd since day one this school year. I towed the line in August, slacked off, then towed the line in December when cases were out of control. At this point, I don’t care. The kid who ‘needs to take the mask off to drink water for ten minutes’ is fine by me.

[Anonymous]

The tide is clearly turning, I am pleased to see!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been more covid cautious than most these past 2 yrs, but I am admittedly getting very weary of seeing my 4 year old masked and going into school these days. Do you think DC will follow suit to some of the other states, namely New Jersey and Delaware at this point, in reconsidering the mask mandate in schools? I am beginning to think of the social and behavioral consequences of my 4 yr old and her teachers masked all day at school. I can't imagine it's good. And if not now, when? I am already hearing about a subvariant of omicron rising in places like Denmark.

You’ll be controlled as long as you obey your ruler.

[Anonymous]

I am the HS teacher above and forgot to add that our school has really good mask compliance, especially in December. It didn’t matter at all, Omicron spread like wildfire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sure DC will be among the last to drop so I’m not holding my breath. At most, I think we might see dropping it for outdoor activities / drop off/ pick up as that’s really just COVID theatre.

I've not worn a mask at drop off or pickup in months, and no one seems to care. I'm not the only one, either.

Same here. I didn’t do that last school year, either. But, I’m someone who never wore a mask outdoors to begin with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Today! Get rid of the mask mandates today, immediately. DC daily stats are very low. If someone wants to continue to mask up go ahead, no one will stop you or your child.

Except that the daily stats are not actually very low. They’ve actually plateaued high.

You can’t just make up facts.

Nor can you (make up daily stats). Check https://coronavirus.dc.gov/key-metrics

Umm that shows a weekly case rate of 231.6 /100k. That’s close to as high as ever pre-omicron.

Did you actually understand the data. You are referring to a "weekly" case rate from Jan 31. That is a week ago which includes cases 7 days prior to Jan 31. Todays numbers are much lower (note the daily rate posted on Jan 31 is only 33 cases) which is nowhere near 231. Please read ALL the date/info, case numbers have dropped like a rock.

Are you really comparing a daily case rate to a weekly case rate lol? Try multiplying your 33 by 7. What do get? Also it’s not 33 cases. It’s 33 cases/100k. You can make an agreement for dropping masks, but don’t pretend the cases are low.

[Anonymous]

It doesn’t matter that the cases aren’t historically low — it’s the severity that’s low. With vaccines available (and used by sane people), the argument that low-risk people should take all sorts of precautions to stop spread to the elderly no longer holds water.

Let’s end the masks!