School board member Dave Donley explained his opposition to mask mandates in the school district by citing a number of public comments in opposition. They included:
”Parents are the best at deciding personal health choices for their children. …” This may be true, but it is not relevant. Children without masks spread the virus to other children. So if I want my child to avoid the virus, I need the other parents to have their kids wear masks. I am happy to do my best to protect their children by masking mine, but I can’t depend on them to do the same without a mandate.”
Typical masks do not work well against COVID-19 transmission.” This is not true. Of all the actions taken to reduce transmission, including stay-at-home orders, mask mandates provided a statistically significant reduction in cases. They are a simple action that is very effective.
”Masks are potentially damaging to the physical and mental health of children.” This is a claim with no data to support it. Fear of getting sick, and being powerless to prevent it, is much more likely to cause mental harm than wearing a mask like everyone else in the school. There is much more convincing evidence that isolation at home, remote learning and school closures are bad for children’s mental health — all things that are possible outcomes of uncontrolled spread of the virus, if simple things like mask wearing are not required.
”… 0.005% of children infected die from Covid-19 ….” On the same page of the ADN where Mr. Donley’s comments appeared, Dr. Haq reported that 300 children have died in the pandemic, and that up to 10% of children infected, even those with mild illness, develop long-term symptoms lasting months. This is not a trivial disease in children.
Large numbers of people are unvaccinated, and there are no vaccine mandates. Children under 12 are not vaccinated. Children catch, carry and spread COVID-19 readily, and uncontrolled, each person infected with the delta variant spreads it to an average of 5 other people. Masks actually do reduce this rate, but really only if everyone uses them. Going to school in this pandemic can be dangerous. Wearing masks reduces the danger, at the cost of some mild inconvenience and discomfort.
— Harold Johnston, M.D.
Anchorage
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