masking in schools: a doctor and covid-19 researcher explains how it keeps children safe

the covid-19 pandemic has also led to childhood hospitalizations. fortunately, the covid vaccine offers significant protection.  unvaccinated adolescents were 10 times more likely to be hospitalized than vaccinated . however, of all children infected by the virus throughout the pandemic, vaccinated and unvaccinated,  roughly one out of 100 children needed to be hospitalized , which indicated disease so severe they require medical intervention to keep them safe and alive.

as the  omicron wave  has started to settle, governments have begun to debate the necessity of continued pandemic measures, including school mask requirements. as a medical doctor and scientist investigating covid-19, i’ll be discussing what readers need to know to have an informed opinion on possible changes at schools.

public health measures work

given the recent protests against public health measures,  such as the anti-vaccine-mandate truck convoy that occupied ottawa , it is clear that some people question whether such directives provide benefits.

vaccines offer protection against covid-19,  including the omicron variant . vaccine mandates have helped move the pandemic closer to a resolution,  as observed in canada .

motivating people to get vaccinated leads to more vaccinations, and fewer people getting sick. more people can then live semi-normal lives, meaning economies can recover, and the  availability and cost of essential goods improve .

masks and social distancing offer protection  and have had their importance appropriately iterated continuously throughout the pandemic. these measures are essential because they directly address the way the virus is transmitted.

masks can  capture and block particles  coming from other people, artificially creating distance between one person’s respiratory secretions and another person’s airway. this offers another layer of protection against respiratory particles.

polarizing rhetoric

it is easy to understand how these measures can help bring back normalcy. unfortunately, certain players have made these measures — which have likely saved thousands if not millions of lives — into  thorny political topics . confidently expressed and polarizing rhetoric has power and can make intelligent and caring individuals question common-sense measures.

in october 2021, the centers for disease control and prevention (cdc) in the united states published a series of peer-reviewed articles on the data behind masking in schools. the first study showed that in u.s. counties with school mask requirements,  the number of covid-19 cases was reduced by at least half .

the second study , which focused on counties in arizona, showed once again that mask requirements meant safer kids. schools without mask requirements were over three times as likely to have a covid-19 outbreak compared to schools with requirements.

clear evidence

appropriately, the cdc and the american academy of pediatrics  continue to recommend masking for all children over age two, and for everyone at schools, regardless of vaccination status .

at this point in the pandemic, it is reasonable to assume that many people have an opinion on everything related to covid-19. i believe in public health measures being sustained until we have evidence that it is safe to gradually lift them,  which is happening to some extent currently .

while covid-19 will likely be with us for at least a few more years, we are  moving towards living with the virus . safety measures will likely fluctuate as the number of cases evolves.

this article is republished from the conversation under a creative commons license. read the original article .