Reply to Why aren’t schools with high COVID rates masking?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This discussion has become ridiculous, but an interesting issue is being raised: the impact of masking for younger children who are in before and aftercare and, therefore, required to mask for many hours per day.

All children must attend public school (unless other arrangements are made). Nearly everyone agrees that virtual schooling is not a long-term solution for most kids and works very poorly for many. Given that COVID is here to stay and we are currently in a surge, it is fair to say "no masks" in school at all during periods of significant community spread simply because some kids attend before and aftercare.

I wish more people were reasonable and not screaming about being done with masks. Masks should be worn by those with symptoms, those returning after being positive, and those who have been exposed (although I could live without that). If people embrace only the "no masks required" part of the CDC guidance but completely ignore the advice about staying home when sick, testing, and masking with a high-quality mask when you have symptoms or when returning or if a close contact, some cases could be prevented. Sure, one-way masking offers personal protection, but it is less effective when so there are so many cases and when people feel entitled to send maskless kids to school or to ignore testing and isolation advice. You can't wear an N-95 for an entire day without eating or drinking some water. [/quote]

For young kids especially, I don’t think it’s appropriate for them to mask 5 days per week for an indefinite period of time, regardless if there is an extra 1-2 hours of before/aftercare.  Same goes for toddlers/preschool aged kids attending daycare.  What seemed a reasonable course of action for a few months early in the pandemic gets more unreasonable the longer this goes on.  Because even though you guys retort “no one is saying forever” your end date is always based on something like “when we know more about long Covid”, etc.

I don’t think anyone is arguing that you shouldn’t keep your kids home when sick or not have them mask if they’ve been exposed or are returning from a Covid infection.  Those are perfectly good reasons to wear a mask for a few days. What we are against are these blanket mandates- the minimal benefit derived is not worth it.[/quote]

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