Rochester Public Schools Tuesday said that it will require students aged two to 12 to wear masks inside all school facilities during the upcoming school year, citing the fact that the COVID-19 has not been approved for children between those ages.
“When we have the opportunity as is anticipated to vaccinate younger children, and those rates of vaccination are sufficiently high, we could remove the requirement for our youngest learners,” Interim Superintendent Kent Pekel said. “So I wish I could tell the board that this is the last time that you’d be dealing with this, but I think it’s very likely that we need to continue to be responsive to this situation over time.”
The school district recommends that children aged 12 and up wear masks, but won’t mandate face coverings for those students, as they are eligible to take the vaccine.
The school district is reportedly concerned with the rise in COVID-19 cases that is occurring nationwide, and more specifically, the rise of the Delta variant.
Some doctors disagree with masking children.
Renowned child psychiatrist Dr. Mark McDonald, who participated in a roundtable discussion with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) earlier this week, blasted those who are advocating mask mandates for children.
He said:
My position is simple. Masking children is child abuse. There is no evidence to support the contention that masks prevent the transmission of respiratory illness through viruses at all. And there’s substantial evidence shows that children have been medically, physically, and psychologically harmed by mandatory mask mandates. I said this, and I maintain this position from last April of 2020. And I continue my position today. Unchanged. In fact, I even reinforced this position. I’ve seen hundreds of children in the last year come to my practice who are coughing, spitting, sick in the throat streptococcal infections, conjunctivitis, impetigo, allergic reactions, panic attacks, all from masks. Not a single child has benefited medically from wearing a mask, and they’ve all been hurt.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky Tuesday said that the CDC recommends everyone – including vaccinated teachers and staff – should wear masks inside K-12 schools, an about-face from recent guidance saying that vaccinated adults no longer needed to wear masks indoors.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Minnesota Sun and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
