Education Week reported a new study that confirms the value of masking during the pandemic.
Mask requirements still offer one of the strongest tools to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks in schools, say new studies.
The findings come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and from a nationwide study published this morning in the journal Pediatrics. They land as the latest pandemic wave recedes, federal masking guidelines begin to relax, and education leaders work toward more flexible approaches to masking for staff and students.
In the Pediatrics study, Duke University researchers in the ongoing ABC Science Collaborative—which tracks pandemic mitigation efforts in schools—analyzed masking policies and infection rates in 61 districts, more than 3,000 schools, and more than 1.1 million students and adults in nine states. For the first time, the national study looked at mitigation from July through December 2021, during the delta wave and the start of the omicron waves of the pandemic.
Schools that required universal masking for adults and students saw 72 percent fewer secondary infections—in which students infected with COVID-19 in the community spread the virus to others in school—than did schools that had no mask requirements or partial masking. Once school size, vaccination rates, and other characteristics were taken into account, schools with universal masking had nearly 90 percent lower infection rates.
Moreover, about half of the students and staff in the study had completed vaccination against COVID-19 by the end of the study, and Duke researchers found universal masking policies were associated with fewer infections even among those who were already vaccinated.
As of March 7, just over 26 percent of U.S. children ages 5 to 11 have been fully vaccinated, as have less than 58 percent of those ages 12 to 17, according to the latest CDC data.
Of course masks protect us and not just in schools. The last two Winters, at least in Europe, there have been no mass flu cases.
YES, there is notable evidence and there is notable logic and there is notable science….but for those who want to act out none of this matters. It often feels as if certain groups of humans are willing to run headlong into a big tree by loudly arguing that the tree is not there.
Yep. I remember reading how cold/flu medicine manufacturers as well as drug store chains LOST money from mid 2020 to near mid 2021 due to a decrease in sales.
The same has happened here. Literally a no-flu season. Think erating masks had something to do with it?
&, now, the loud anti-maskers got their foolish way. Chicago Public Schools, protected through the CTU contract through 8/22 against the 146 school district complaint (whereby a county judge struck down the IL school 😷 mandate), just had their contract violated when the lawyer threatened a lawsuit (this suit also covers keeping kids out of school when they test + (!!!) & also not having to test kids who have been exposed to others who have tested positive. (The lawyer, out to make a name for himself, is now running for IL A.G.!) & CPS Chief Pedro Martinez–a genuine profile in courage, caved immediately. (&, as someone said in the paper today, a loud, small group of parents in a higher-income neighbor caused this, NOT the majority of parents). The CTU is now looking at options, & is taking case to National Labor Relations Board. This ignorant, selfish &, yes, cruel decision is perfectly illustrated by Ciedie’s accurate “big tree” analogy on 3/9 @ 2:50 PM.
Just wait for it: a new, quickly spread variant, & a call, once again for a 😷 mandate.
Except it won’t happen, because it’s like stuffing clown paraphernalia back into the very small receptacle it was pulled from.
NO ONE who scoffed at wearing masks will ever wear them again–they’re not gonna have their civil liberties taken from them!
& those are probably the unvaxxed, as well.
Unfortunately, our most vulnerable will be the victims.
Finally, there was no finding any home testing kits in any of the stores: now the shelves are overrun with 20 different brands of tests. (If you think these same people are even testing themselves, I have a bridge to sell you.)
Also, free govt. issued N-95s filled 2 boxes in our local CVS pharmacy: no takers.
The CovIDIOTS prevail.
The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide
Steven Thrasher/Macmillan.
Every Dead COVID American left @ nine close relatives bereaved. 9 million/3 percent of the population now have a permanent hole in their world. Estimated 149,000 children lost parent-caregiver. Many denied rituals of goodbyes, mourning & funerals.
Please Continue To WEAR YOUR MASK
So many Americans are whiners.
Masks are worn in Asian countries and for good reasons:
https://www.voanews.com/a/science-health_coronavirus-outbreak_not-just-coronavirus-asians-have-worn-face-masks-decades/6185597.html
The first time I visited China, I was surprised to see many people wearing masks
The people in China and parts of Korea that are close to China wear masks because of the air pollution problems and the thick smog (kids included). I see many Asians in my area wear masks during spring allergy season and the elders will wear them during the winter flu season when they are out shopping in crowded areas.
The Japanese people from Japan and the Chinese people from China wear masks even when on vacation in Hawai’i.
The people of China and Japan wear masks when they are sick to protect OTHERS.
How hard is wearing a mask?
Thanks, Diane.
It strikes me that Asian population density makes masking almost traditional by this point in history. Not surprisingly, the response to the masking requirement was easier for dense urban areas to understand. It seemed more extreme in rural areas, where population is more dispersed, and people tend to spend large blocks of time outside and alone. I think that tragically lured rural people into complacency where the virus was concerned. It made rural people listen to the science deniers all the more. Urban areas in the US responded better.
FREE! NOW We All Can Order A 2nd Set Of Covid Tests.
USPS Delivers To You At-Home Tests Available AGAIN.
Order Immediately For You or Your Favorite Classroom Teacher
https://www.covidtests.gov/
Nothing in life is “Free”! The tests were manufactured using taxpayer dollars and now that the Gov’t has a stockpile, they need to get rid of them before they expire. Why would anyone want these unreliable tests (many false +/- results especially if the tests were exposed to extreme temps) when they can get a very reliable PCR test for free at any number of facilities?
The Home Depot had employees just inside the door trying to basically give away hand sanitizer at 39 cents a bottle this past weekend. Masks packs are BOGO or B2GO. There are shelves filled with disinfectant wipes discounted to try and get rid of them.
MARKETING….the American way of life.
Cut it out! We all know that Covid can’t infect school children
But naked mice are deadly!
I don’t get it. The same crowd who decried restaurant mask rules as “illogical” also will claim that COVID can’t spread within the walls of a school. Meanwhile, parents and teachers have been blaming schools and daycares for colds/flu for YEARS.
DeSantis has repeatedly stated that “Masks don’t work.” Then, DeSantis appointed Dr. Ladapo aka, Dr. Quack-in-the-bush, (Marx Bros’ reference), as surgeon general to say exactly what he wants to hear. Florida is becoming like an alternate universe where there are no facts. Ladapo has also erroneously asserted that children don’t need the vaccine. Scientists disagree. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/07/florida-surgeon-general-covid-vaccines-00014702
DeSantis chose a surgeon general who is as clueless as he is. I recall reading that when Ladapo left his post to go to Florida, his former colleagues were happy to see him go.
Lap dogo?
yup. But DeSantis is not so stupid as actually to believe that masks aren’t effective against air-borne illness. It’s a cynical political ploy. He’s all about the ambition. He tied himself to Trump’s do-nothing approach to Covid, and this worked for him politically in my backward state in which half the citizenry has the scientific understanding of people in the Middle Ages.
I can’t remember if it was posted here, but there was a video of him last week chiding high school students at a college event last week for wearing masks. Imagine the uproar if a school staff member chided a student for NOT wearing a mask.
I didn’t post but I saw the video where DeSantis ridiculed students for wearing masks. Big man.
I read earlier this morning that a new strain of Omicron is out and causing a new outbreak of COVID. The following news piece isn’t what I read. What I read said it is spreading very fast in New York City.
“Just when we thought we were out, could we be headed back in?
“A new variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 has now been detected in every U.S. state. Its high transmissibility has led to it being dubbed “stealth Omicron.”
“Stealth Omicron, also known as the Omicron BA.2 variant, was first detected in Europe in late January and has since made its way around the world, becoming the leading strain behind new coronavirus infections in at least 18 countries.
“Research is trickling in about just how concerning the new variant is.”
https://fortune.com/2022/03/02/how-contagious-is-stealth-omicron-covid-subvariant-immunity/
I want to add my experience last Wednesday when I “had to” go to COSTCO to pick up a prescription after a dentist appointment for a tooth extraction that should have taken place months ago. To get rid of the spreading infection, he had to remove some of the jaw bone and add some cadaver bone to replace it.
Anyway, there were a lot of really careless, STUPID people shopping at COSTCO without masks on, and I was stuck waiting for more than an hour for the phramsicst to get the prescription ready.
I had a mask on. I hope that was enough.
After more than two years of mostly being isolated, I’d be really angry to end up getting infected by COVID now because of some fools that refuse to wear masks and businesses that are letting them get away with it.
I wanted the prescription mailed but the dentist said I had to have the medications now, the day of the surgery, not several days later through the mail.
I hope you came through unscathed as well, Lloyd. As a denizen of the unmasked part of Tennessee, I can only note that the most masked teachers in our schools, which included myself, were the first to get the Covid. I still worry that being the only one masked is only good if you throw away the mask in half an hour, but I have no real knowledge of that.
Sorry to hear this, Lloyd. Hope you are recovering well!
Wishing you a speedy recovery, Lloyd, sorry that you had to go through all that and some inconsiderate people.
Just gotta say that it’s satisfying when science confirms common sense, in the face of nonsense. Not that evidence will now trump the nonsense.
Good afternoon Diane and everyone,
I’m still one of the few people wearing my mask in school. My husband does, too, at his school. I have students with sniffles and coughs in front of me everyday. I open the windows even though it’s 40 degrees outside. I have a student who self tested because he had a gathering to go to over the weekend. If this student had not self tested, he would have spread the virus in school. The school can’t force any students to get tested or to test them unless a parent has given permission. There’s no mandatory vaccine. So, basically, you have to take matters into your own hands to protect yourself. You can’t rely on anyone to put rules and regulations into place to protect you. You need to do it yourself. So, the three things we do is get vaccinated, wear good quality masks, and stay away from crowds and close proximity of other peoples’ faces.
Oops: cx: people’s
Not all school buildings are a hundred years old with windows that can be opened. Open windows and high enough air flow rates don’t get enough discussion. I don’t want to be in the same room with maskless people. Katelyn Jetelina [your local epidemiologist] is pretty good at making scientific studies understandable to lay people.
Yes! Spread the word. Your Local Epidemiologist has both a Facebook presence and an email newsletter. She does the research and she is an expert in this area.
Thank you for this information. It already proved useful in a couple situations today.
When doing a cost benefit analysis it is important to think about the costs and the benefits. The benefits of wearing masks in school was a reduction in infections transmitted in school. What were the costs of mask mandates in schools?
It would seem our resident mask troll has decided to skip this thread.
some people are better looking with their masks on also
I will never understand the craziness surrounding basic healhcare.
Masking. Simple. Folx act like they are dying or we are killing their children?
Vaccination. Routine. Folx act like the vaccine is the plague. Hello we take the vaccine to avoid the plague.
One thing I am learning. Students tend to do whatever the teacher is doing. A good model with safety supplies encourages students to behave safely. Not everyone but most students want to do what the teacher is doing.