When should DC drop its school mask mandate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mendelson is tone deaf and out of touch with parents of school age children. Clearly school masks was the "hot" topic. Time for him to go! No excuse for his constant stance of passing the buck on school mask mandates.

I mean, he did refer to "Boris Yeltsin" instead of Putin in commenting on the war in Ukraine. But seriously, he seemed unaware that DC Health makes its own rules about COVID separately from the CDC, and that OSSE writes detailed regs based on DC Health that schools must follow. Totally out to lunch.

Omg I thought I heard him say that but then I convinced myself he couldn’t possibly have said that. I can’t believe these clowns are in charge

Just curious, why would a local councilmember need to comment on this at all. Any time a local politican is concerned with national affairs, much less international affairs it means that local services will be terrible. Every time.

I was only half listening but I think he was congratulating himself for renaming a plaza or lighting up a building in blue and yellow or some such.

Oh wow. Well, then yes. Stiff peters over that historic move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mendelson is tone deaf and out of touch with parents of school age children. Clearly school masks was the "hot" topic. Time for him to go! No excuse for his constant stance of passing the buck on school mask mandates.

I mean, he did refer to "Boris Yeltsin" instead of Putin in commenting on the war in Ukraine. But seriously, he seemed unaware that DC Health makes its own rules about COVID separately from the CDC, and that OSSE writes detailed regs based on DC Health that schools must follow. Totally out to lunch.

Omg I thought I heard him say that but then I convinced myself he couldn’t possibly have said that. I can’t believe these clowns are in charge

Just curious, why would a local councilmember need to comment on this at all. Any time a local politican is concerned with national affairs, much less international affairs it means that local services will be terrible. Every time.

I was only half listening but I think he was congratulating himself for renaming a plaza or lighting up a building in blue and yellow or some such.

Same! He apparently can't figure out how to have inperson meetings and live at the same time either. He spent some time talking about the pros/cons of each option, with technology he can do both!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just did a quick listen on some of his meeting and wow... I admittedly have not been super involved in local town halls or council sessions but this is just embarrassing particularly in the nation's capital. One would think we could get someone with either more competence (if he truly was not following CDC updates) or more political cunning (pissing off parents and WTU--what kind of move is that??)...

I have been a DC resident for 15 years (came from VA after college) and feel ashamed I have not been more involved locally, because this is bananas.

My husband said the same thing. He popped his head in while I was watching and goes, "THIS is our city council CHAIRMAN? That can't be right."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just did a quick listen on some of his meeting and wow... I admittedly have not been super involved in local town halls or council sessions but this is just embarrassing particularly in the nation's capital. One would think we could get someone with either more competence (if he truly was not following CDC updates) or more political cunning (pissing off parents and WTU--what kind of move is that??)...

I have been a DC resident for 15 years (came from VA after college) and feel ashamed I have not been more involved locally, because this is bananas.

My husband said the same thing. He popped his head in while I was watching and goes, "THIS is our city council CHAIRMAN? That can't be right."

+1000

[Anonymous]

"Effective February 25, 2022, CDC is exercising its enforcement discretion to not require that people wear masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems, including early care and education/child care programs. CDC is making this change to align with updated guidance that no longer recommends universal indoor mask wearing in K-12 and early education settings in areas with a low or medium COVID-19 Community Level."

If you want the full text.
https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/masks/mask-travel-guidance.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Effective February 25, 2022, CDC is exercising its enforcement discretion to not require that people wear masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems, including early care and education/child care programs. CDC is making this change to align with updated guidance that no longer recommends universal indoor mask wearing in K-12 and early education settings in areas with a low or medium COVID-19 Community Level."

If you want the full text.
https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/masks/mask-travel-guidance.html

How is it that the CDC is going one step further saying hey kids really don’t need to wear masks not even on the school bus - and DC kids are STILL masked for school and daycare. This is insanity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Effective February 25, 2022, CDC is exercising its enforcement discretion to not require that people wear masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems, including early care and education/child care programs. CDC is making this change to align with updated guidance that no longer recommends universal indoor mask wearing in K-12 and early education settings in areas with a low or medium COVID-19 Community Level."

If you want the full text.
https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/masks/mask-travel-guidance.html

How is it that the CDC is going one step further saying hey kids really don’t need to wear masks not even on the school bus - and DC kids are STILL masked for school and daycare. This is insanity.

I get the impression that a lot of people in DC think the masks actually work. They truly think removing them will harm people. I don’t understand how you can think this way after the recent omicron wave (that masking works). It’s going to take some time for these people to come around.

[Anonymous]

Recent study of a half-million kids in Spain found no effect on transmission of masking:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4046809

FCM = face-covering masks

Quote from abstract: "FCM mandates in schools were not associated with lower SARS-CoV-2 incidence or transmission, suggesting that this intervention was not effective. Instead, age-dependency was the most important factor in explaining the transmission risk for children attending school."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Recent study of a half-million kids in Spain found no effect on transmission of masking:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4046809

FCM = face-covering masks

Quote from abstract: "FCM mandates in schools were not associated with lower SARS-CoV-2 incidence or transmission, suggesting that this intervention was not effective. Instead, age-dependency was the most important factor in explaining the transmission risk for children attending school."

Also notable in this study: Spain didn't mask kids under 5 at all, unlike our dumb country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Effective February 25, 2022, CDC is exercising its enforcement discretion to not require that people wear masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems, including early care and education/child care programs. CDC is making this change to align with updated guidance that no longer recommends universal indoor mask wearing in K-12 and early education settings in areas with a low or medium COVID-19 Community Level."

If you want the full text.
https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/masks/mask-travel-guidance.html

How is it that the CDC is going one step further saying hey kids really don’t need to wear masks not even on the school bus - and DC kids are STILL masked for school and daycare. This is insanity.

I get the impression that a lot of people in DC think the masks actually work. They truly think removing them will harm people. I don’t understand how you can think this way after the recent omicron wave (that masking works). It’s going to take some time for these people to come around.

We’ve reached the point where wearing a cotton mask means you care as little for science as a climate change denier. But they just keep doubling down on the stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mendelson is tone deaf and out of touch with parents of school age children. Clearly school masks was the "hot" topic. Time for him to go! No excuse for his constant stance of passing the buck on school mask mandates.

I mean, he did refer to "Boris Yeltsin" instead of Putin in commenting on the war in Ukraine. But seriously, he seemed unaware that DC Health makes its own rules about COVID separately from the CDC, and that OSSE writes detailed regs based on DC Health that schools must follow. Totally out to lunch.

Omg I thought I heard him say that but then I convinced myself he couldn’t possibly have said that. I can’t believe these clowns are in charge

Just curious, why would a local councilmember need to comment on this at all. Any time a local politican is concerned with national affairs, much less international affairs it means that local services will be terrible. Every time.

I was only half listening but I think he was congratulating himself for renaming a plaza or lighting up a building in blue and yellow or some such.

Oh wow. Well, then yes. Stiff peters over that historic move.

What does “stiff peters” mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mendelson is tone deaf and out of touch with parents of school age children. Clearly school masks was the "hot" topic. Time for him to go! No excuse for his constant stance of passing the buck on school mask mandates.

I mean, he did refer to "Boris Yeltsin" instead of Putin in commenting on the war in Ukraine. But seriously, he seemed unaware that DC Health makes its own rules about COVID separately from the CDC, and that OSSE writes detailed regs based on DC Health that schools must follow. Totally out to lunch.

Omg I thought I heard him say that but then I convinced myself he couldn’t possibly have said that. I can’t believe these clowns are in charge

Just curious, why would a local councilmember need to comment on this at all. Any time a local politican is concerned with national affairs, much less international affairs it means that local services will be terrible. Every time.

I was only half listening but I think he was congratulating himself for renaming a plaza or lighting up a building in blue and yellow or some such.

Oh wow. Well, then yes. Stiff peters over that historic move.

What does “stiff peters” mean?

Urban dictionary is your friend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Effective February 25, 2022, CDC is exercising its enforcement discretion to not require that people wear masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems, including early care and education/child care programs. CDC is making this change to align with updated guidance that no longer recommends universal indoor mask wearing in K-12 and early education settings in areas with a low or medium COVID-19 Community Level."

If you want the full text.
https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/masks/mask-travel-guidance.html

How is it that the CDC is going one step further saying hey kids really don’t need to wear masks not even on the school bus - and DC kids are STILL masked for school and daycare. This is insanity.

I get the impression that a lot of people in DC think the masks actually work. They truly think removing them will harm people. I don’t understand how you can think this way after the recent omicron wave (that masking works). It’s going to take some time for these people to come around.

Yeah. I mean, masks do work -- particularly an N95 on an older person -- but they have limits. I know people outside of DC who are beside themselves over their preschools dropping masks. I know people who are very cautious about covid who have literally told me they'd be more comfortable visiting indoor spaces when case counts were high but masks required, than they would when case counts were low and masks optional.

It's unfortunate because obviously there is science to support masking to a degree but they've become like a magical talisman for some people. (Honestly no other way to describe it if anyone feels reassured by cloth face coverings hanging down below 2 year old noses.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Effective February 25, 2022, CDC is exercising its enforcement discretion to not require that people wear masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems, including early care and education/child care programs. CDC is making this change to align with updated guidance that no longer recommends universal indoor mask wearing in K-12 and early education settings in areas with a low or medium COVID-19 Community Level."

If you want the full text.
https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/masks/mask-travel-guidance.html

How is it that the CDC is going one step further saying hey kids really don’t need to wear masks not even on the school bus - and DC kids are STILL masked for school and daycare. This is insanity.

I get the impression that a lot of people in DC think the masks actually work. They truly think removing them will harm people. I don’t understand how you can think this way after the recent omicron wave (that masking works). It’s going to take some time for these people to come around.

Yeah. I mean, masks do work -- particularly an N95 on an older person -- but they have limits. I know people outside of DC who are beside themselves over their preschools dropping masks. I know people who are very cautious about covid who have literally told me they'd be more comfortable visiting indoor spaces when case counts were high but masks required, than they would when case counts were low and masks optional.

It's unfortunate because obviously there is science to support masking to a degree but they've become like a magical talisman for some people. (Honestly no other way to describe it if anyone feels reassured by cloth face coverings hanging down below 2 year old noses.)

I think the issue is that masks work when they are of a specifically quality, worn correctly. People in real life (meaning, not medical settings) don't wear N95s (largely) and don't wear them 8 hours a day and don't wear them correctly for 8 hours a day. So all of those things impact efficacy. Kids, particularly, don't wear masks well for 8 hours. So efficacy at reducing transmission is of course lower or non-existent (overall) in school settings.

Add to this all of these findings that kids don't spread well to each other to begin with, and you get a lower risk of them spreading it anyway, so it's difficult to see any impact of the intervention (masks).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Effective February 25, 2022, CDC is exercising its enforcement discretion to not require that people wear masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems, including early care and education/child care programs. CDC is making this change to align with updated guidance that no longer recommends universal indoor mask wearing in K-12 and early education settings in areas with a low or medium COVID-19 Community Level."

If you want the full text.
https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/masks/mask-travel-guidance.html

How is it that the CDC is going one step further saying hey kids really don’t need to wear masks not even on the school bus - and DC kids are STILL masked for school and daycare. This is insanity.

I get the impression that a lot of people in DC think the masks actually work. They truly think removing them will harm people. I don’t understand how you can think this way after the recent omicron wave (that masking works). It’s going to take some time for these people to come around.

Yeah. I mean, masks do work -- particularly an N95 on an older person -- but they have limits. I know people outside of DC who are beside themselves over their preschools dropping masks. I know people who are very cautious about covid who have literally told me they'd be more comfortable visiting indoor spaces when case counts were high but masks required, than they would when case counts were low and masks optional.

It's unfortunate because obviously there is science to support masking to a degree but they've become like a magical talisman for some people. (Honestly no other way to describe it if anyone feels reassured by cloth face coverings hanging down below 2 year old noses.)

I think the issue is that masks work when they are of a specifically quality, worn correctly. People in real life (meaning, not medical settings) don't wear N95s (largely) and don't wear them 8 hours a day and don't wear them correctly for 8 hours a day. So all of those things impact efficacy. Kids, particularly, don't wear masks well for 8 hours. So efficacy at reducing transmission is of course lower or non-existent (overall) in school settings.

Add to this all of these findings that kids don't spread well to each other to begin with, and you get a lower risk of them spreading it anyway, so it's difficult to see any impact of the intervention (masks).

Completely agree.