My extended family lives in West Va and they don't wear masks at their catholic school. Average 25 kids per class grades k-8. The number of exposure emails they have received over the last two years from the school is about the same number as we have received from our norther va catholic where masks are required. The children are healthy and happy. Meanwhile at our school we received a letter last week stating we can choose not to wear masks anymore, but there was also a page full of begging us to wear them. We decided to see what others did....Well the few children who have chosen to to mask-up are set off in the corder of the room. It is very sad and not ver christian like. Furthermore, there is no science that the basks are protecting the children. Do yourself a favor and take a drag from a cigarette and then blow it out with a cloth mask on. You will then understand the science. Do yourself another favor and read international settings. Plenty of countries with kids at school with no masks and less cases than the U.S. Unfortunately the mask mandates are political and nothing to do with science. So sad that everything has become political and we are pitted against each other. That is a move used to control people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Millions of children across the country are attending school without masks. The sky has not fallen. This whole issue is stupid. Wear a mask if you want to; don’t wear one if you don’t want to. It makes no difference.

And kids in those parts of the country have found themselves in online learning because of getting sick at school or being a close contact. Every family I know living in an unmasked school system has had at least one interruption to learning, many have had 2, and a few have had more then 2.

FWIW,
Some families I know living in an unmasked school system (i grew up in the south) has at at least one interruption to learning. Many families I know living in a compulsury -masked school system have had one or more interruption to learning. Correlation does not imply causation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mass formation psychosis. It’s okay. We will help you through it. It’s going to be fine. By this time next year, COVID will still be with us and everyone will have accepted that universal masking is not necessary.

You do realize that is because mutations to the virus are making the virus less dangerous at this point and so COVID will become less dangerous and not because masks were not effective against the original strain of COVID 19 and the initial variants, right?

Omicron is more transmissible but less deadly. People who are vaccinated are not getting as sick as people who are unvaccinated. People who are wearing masks are still less likely to get sick or are less sick because the masks help to decrease the viral load by decreasing the amount of virus that is projected out by someone who is sick.

And yes, better masks can prevent Omicron transmission.

No one I know expects to be wearing masks the rest of their lives but understand the role they play as part of a larger mitigation plan.

You make some sweeping statements but they are just your opinions.

Anonymous wrote:Millions of children across the country are attending school without masks. The sky has not fallen. This whole issue is stupid. Wear a mask if you want to; don’t wear one if you don’t want to. It makes no difference.

And kids in those parts of the country have found themselves in online learning because of getting sick at school or being a close contact. Every family I know living in an unmasked school system has had at least one interruption to learning, many have had 2, and a few have had more then 2.

Anonymous wrote:Mass formation psychosis. It’s okay. We will help you through it. It’s going to be fine. By this time next year, COVID will still be with us and everyone will have accepted that universal masking is not necessary.

You do realize that is because mutations to the virus are making the virus less dangerous at this point and so COVID will become less dangerous and not because masks were not effective against the original strain of COVID 19 and the initial variants, right?

Omicron is more transmissible but less deadly. People who are vaccinated are not getting as sick as people who are unvaccinated. People who are wearing masks are still less likely to get sick or are less sick because the masks help to decrease the viral load by decreasing the amount of virus that is projected out by someone who is sick.

And yes, better masks can prevent Omicron transmission.

No one I know expects to be wearing masks the rest of their lives but understand the role they play as part of a larger mitigation plan.

We are not a wealthy family. We sacrificed a lot to send our kids to Catholic school. I am grateful our wonderful teachers reinforced the notion of empathy to our kids. Money well spent.

Anonymous wrote:There are like 3 kids unmasked in DD class of over 25 kids. Get a grip people. Everyone is exercising their freedom of choice. When the fear mongers shut down public schools for a year, our catholic was just fine open. Nothing to see here.

Just fine? Really? Do you know how many extra hours teachers and administrators had to put in to make sure your kids could go to school? Do you know how many skills teachers had to learn on the spot to deliver hybrid lessons? Do you know how many lesson plans teachers had to re-invent to deliver a somewhat valuable education? Do you know how many kids fell behind because the delivery of lessons was not optimal because of all the restrictions that were in place? Do you know how many emails teachers had to send to parents explaining why so many “fun traditions” had to be nixed because of covid? Oh, but of course, you were able to drop your kids off at school unlike those poor public school kids, so everything was just fine from where you working/hanging out.

There are like 3 kids unmasked in DD class of over 25 kids. Get a grip people. Everyone is exercising their freedom of choice. When the fear mongers shut down public schools for a year, our catholic was just fine open. Nothing to see here.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's just push for vaccinations for all and booster shots and then we can do away with masks and make it normal again. There. Fixed it.

If you want your kids to be in school with all students vaccinated, head across the river and Comrade Bowers will take care of you. Don't count on our new governor to mandate (ineffective) vaccines for kids who are not at high risk.

Cite your source? And, no, Fox News is not a source.

Everywhere. The vaccine does not prevent spread or infection. Every new station says that now!

Stop blaming the unvaccinated.

Wow. You are dumbass. You literally cited "Every new station" as a source. A proper source would be Medline, CDC, Merck, peer reviewed studies, etc.

You want to try again? Or do you just want to move along since you have confirmed to the rest of us that you are an idiot and that is why you won't wear masks? BTW, I have zero issue to reasoned debate. Key word, reasoned.

So for the poster who would like a phase out of masks - yes. That should be done.

For the poster who asked about antibodies from already having covid being a mechanism for not wearing a mask for those that can prove it with a lab test - BRILLIANT. I would be fine with that as well.

But you are just an ignorant hillbilly who doesn't want to do something because you FEEL like it and you like FRESH air and hate BIG PHARMA. You have crap talking points that are not even your own because you are too ignorant to know better. So go stamp your foot and run along now. Adults are trying to have a reasoned conversation here.

How about the CDC? https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/19/health/covid-vaccine-infection-protection-cdc-study/index.html

Talks about effectiveness of natural mmunity.

When the Delta variant was dominant in the United States, both vaccination and prior infection helped protect against Covid-19, but vaccination was the safest way to be protected, according to a study published Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The data included in the study was collected before the Omicron wave in the United States, and before boosters were widely available. The CDC says it will publish additional data on Covid-19 vaccines, boosters and the Omicron variant later this week.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's just push for vaccinations for all and booster shots and then we can do away with masks and make it normal again. There. Fixed it.

If you want your kids to be in school with all students vaccinated, head across the river and Comrade Bowers will take care of you. Don't count on our new governor to mandate (ineffective) vaccines for kids who are not at high risk.

Cite your source? And, no, Fox News is not a source.

Everywhere. The vaccine does not prevent spread or infection. Every new station says that now!

Stop blaming the unvaccinated.

Wow. You are dumbass. You literally cited "Every new station" as a source. A proper source would be Medline, CDC, Merck, peer reviewed studies, etc.

You want to try again? Or do you just want to move along since you have confirmed to the rest of us that you are an idiot and that is why you won't wear masks? BTW, I have zero issue to reasoned debate. Key word, reasoned.

So for the poster who would like a phase out of masks - yes. That should be done.

For the poster who asked about antibodies from already having covid being a mechanism for not wearing a mask for those that can prove it with a lab test - BRILLIANT. I would be fine with that as well.

But you are just an ignorant hillbilly who doesn't want to do something because you FEEL like it and you like FRESH air and hate BIG PHARMA. You have crap talking points that are not even your own because you are too ignorant to know better. So go stamp your foot and run along now. Adults are trying to have a reasoned conversation here.

How about the CDC? https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/19/health/covid-vaccine-infection-protection-cdc-study/index.html

Talks about effectiveness of natural mmunity.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's just push for vaccinations for all and booster shots and then we can do away with masks and make it normal again. There. Fixed it.

If you want your kids to be in school with all students vaccinated, head across the river and Comrade Bowers will take care of you. Don't count on our new governor to mandate (ineffective) vaccines for kids who are not at high risk.

Cite your source? And, no, Fox News is not a source.

Oh, I will play but proof/study (actual Science) that they are effective. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02183-8/fulltext

Am I reading this correctly? The vaccine-effectiveness study you are citing was funded by Pfizer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mass formation psychosis. It’s okay. We will help you through it. It’s going to be fine. By this time next year, COVID will still be with us and everyone will have accepted that universal masking is not necessary.

I am not disagreeing with you. I would like a phased out approach to masks. I think when transmission is low and positivity rates are below 8% and vaccination rates are high then unmask. Right now the positivity rate is at 20% (but dropping from 35%) and hospitalizations are up. If in two months the rates drop, take off masks and REQUIRE vaccinations for child enrollment (that will be next).

I do not think that this month is the time. Also an etsy mask provides some protection. Not great, but better than nothing. Since I bet the current kids going maskless are also the unvaccinated I will bite my tongue on the intelligent choices being made by those families.

I think that this is how most of us who choose masks feel. Do it smart not political.

Anonymous wrote:Let's just push for vaccinations for all and booster shots and then we can do away with masks and make it normal again. There. Fixed it.

- if you believe this then look at Israel. While the benefits of masks are inconclusive, especially in settings where they are not effectively fitted and worn, and changed out (soaked in saliva), the vaccines are not stopping the virus either, but thankfully reduce severity. Unfortunately, vaccines do cause harm, themselves, as well. Those with certain pre-existing family history of auto-immune diseases (and adverse reactions to vaccines) have grounds to be hesitant on vaccination of their children. Honestly, the best way to help your neighbor, if you are healthy, is to get Omnicron to help build real herd immunity before a resurgence of delta (or worse). We have to live with it and it’s affects, the current state of masking in schools are not an effective component. The guidelines on distancing whether masked or not, vaxxed or not, are also ineffective measures. The difference in a broad sense in the typical school setting, with kids appearing healthy/asymptomatic, and teacher and kids compliance in distancing and mask wearing make the difference in transmission amongst these groups negligible.

My daughter has been dreading putting on a mask everyday for a year and a half, there’s no doubt it’s had a negative impact on her. She is no longer wearing a mask at school; if she has symptoms, she’ll be kept home Masking impacts teaching and learning (messages sent/received, mental focus, emotional impact, etc) Is it substantial? probably not for all, but some more than others (delayed speech for toddlers). I think if you are that worried about masks, you should have also been fighting for A/B schedules to reduce on site population, and small class sizes (ie msybe 10) to properly distance, etc. All the measures that have slowly dissipated, but no one acknowledges, should be re-enforced, as well. My opinion is Omicron doesn’t warrant this, but we need to be prepared for a variant that does (stronger affects against younger/healthy populations, where the only real defense is herd immunity.

Anonymous wrote:Do any of these Catholic schools recognize natural immunity to negate masking and quarantine rules for the kids that already had Covid and recovered (with evidence of antibodies from blood tests)?

Kids who have had Covid within the last 90 days don't have to quarantine if exposed, whether the positive case was masked or not. A conservative estimate has to be used for natural immunity when setting quarantine rules, because we don't really know how long it lasts for most people. It's hard to study it systematically in the real world. It probably lasts longer than 90 days but there isn't solid data to tell us how long it lasts for most people for the various variants, their vaccine status, immune system function, etc. It certainly doesn't last forever, regardless of what some RWNJs want to tell you. If it did people wouldn't be getting Covid twice.

Anonymous wrote:Do any of these Catholic schools recognize natural immunity to negate masking and quarantine rules for the kids that already had Covid and recovered (with evidence of antibodies from blood tests)?

The schools follow the county health department. My 9yo dd had Covid in the fall. The health dept said she would be categorized the same as a vaccinated person for 90 days after her infection. After the 90 days, she would be considered the same as an unvaccinated person. She’s since been vaccinated.