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home / diseases & conditions / coronavirus / masks & other personal protection

covid-19 rising: doctors disagree on return of mask mandates 

while some experts point to the rise in flu and covid-19 cases to reinstate mask mandates, others are concerned about the impact long-term mask wearing will have on children's development.

by karen hawthorne
published nov 01, 2022
read time 4 minute read
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read time 4 minute read
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should we go back to wearing masks for covid-19?
the masking debate continues to rage on, with cultural norms playing a key role in the acceptance of masking. getty
when it comes to our health, canada is decidedly heading into a tough winter. covid-19 hospitalizations are rising, booster uptake is lagging, and the new omicron subvariants are spreading. this fall has the highest number of covid-related hospitalizations than any previous fall in the pandemic, almost four times more than in 2020 and double that of last october, cbc news reports.  the canadian association of emergency physicians has also warned the combination of covid-19 and influenza illnesses will be problematic for the province’s overburdened health-care system through the winter. 
now, doctors are disagreeing over the value of reintroducing masking mandates to help curb the spread of infection, according to ctv news.
the former scientific director of ontario’s covid-19 science table, dr. fahad razak, told ctv that the unprecedented viral infections validates putting mask mandates in public settings. those settings include masking in health-care facilities, grocery stores and public transit.
“the reason i think it’s the right time to start mask mandates now is because we have very few options,” he said, adding that encouraging vaccination should also be part of tactics to control the spread. razak also spoke to the concerns over hospital staff shortages and limited capacity for patients across canada. 

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“the problems with capacity, with beds, with staffing — those are going to take years to address,” he told ctv. 
in contrast, ctv reports, dr. jeffrey pernica, infectious disease specialist and associate professor in pediatric medicine at mcmaster children’s hospital in hamilton, ont., isn’t behind reintroducing mask mandates beyond health-care settings. he is especially concerned about mask mandates for children and questions the benefit of masking again in schools.
“i think it’s hard to know exactly what proportion of transmission those [mandates] prevented,” he told ctv. “i have some questions about whether [those mandates] are going to be acceptable for the majority of kids and families,” 
pernica also stressed the importance of masking for health providers taking care of patients, including kids with viral and respiratory illnesses.
in alberta, premier danielle smith said in a statement she will not allow any masking mandates of children in schools. this follows a court ruling on the government’s decision to drop and block these mandates, the calgary herald reports. 
“we must turn the page on what has been an extremely difficult time for children, along with their parents and teachers,” the premier’s statement says. 
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it’s complicated. masking comes with social and developmental detriments 

the masking debate continues to rage on, with cultural norms playing a key role in the acceptance of masking.
but research findings are conflicting when it comes to the question of childhood development. while research indicates wearing masks does not impair gas exchange or make it more difficult to exhale carbon dioxide and inhale oxygen at rest or mild exercise, experts are divided on the socio-emotional development of children in heavily-masked environments. 
“kids need to train up their face recognition,” dr. manfred spitzer, a psychiatrist and cognitive neuroscientist in germany, told npr. “babies were never designed just to see the upper half of the face and to infer the lower half. even adults have a hard time doing this.” he is most concerned with masking interfering with non-verbal communication and bonding for young kids.
“when communication is interfered with, i think if that happens for a week, that’s ok,” spitzer continued. “but if that happens for half a year, that’s eternity when it comes to brain development at a very young age.”
however, not all research indicates that mask wearing will cause dire consequences for children. one study, published in plos one, found participants’ (81 children, aged 7 to 13) ability to identify others’ emotions when wearing masks was approximately the same as for sunglasses — another widely-used device that has attracted little of the concern over children’s development. although neither of the results were as good as for completely unobscured faces, they were still above chance. 
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“children may reasonably infer whether someone wearing a mask is sad or angry, based on the eye region alone,” the authors write. 

how necessary is the entire face for communication? 

in the same vein, researchers are divided in understanding just how much masks interfere in our daily social interactions.
psychology researchers in israel and italy collaborated in a 2021 study, published in frontiers in psychology, that looked at how we rely on faces for communicating. the authors note that faces are the most important non-verbal method of transmitting and decodiing information about ourselves and others, so masking creates a hurdle to normal communication.
“[masking] has changed interpersonal interactions in many ways, likely permanently. face masks not only hamper actual information transmission, they also create negative feelings of alienation and emotional distancing.” they also point to research that indicates masking diminishes the quality of tutoring in schools, and other research that indicates patients in health-care settings may feel less compassion and care when their caregivers are wearing masks.
however, the authors also note “the impact of masks is not automatic and that under some contexts observers can control at least part of their detrimental effects.” 
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other research has focused on the eyes as the key area for developing compassion and, in some cases, profound intimacy. while western cultures may never develop the ability to communicate based on the eyes alone, it is worth noting we are able to develop different methods of understanding emotion. 
 
karen hawthorne is a toronto-based writer.
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karen hawthorne
karen hawthorne

karen hawthorne worked for six years as a digital editor for the national post, contributing articles on health, business, culture and travel for affiliated newspapers across canada. she now writes from her home office in toronto and takes breaks to bounce with her son on the backyard trampoline and walk bingo, her bull terrier.

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