Gov. Hochul, you need to unmask our children nowBy Maud Maron and Natalya Murakhver
February 9, 2022
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday she’s lifting the statewide indoor mask mandate, but our children must continue to mask in school. That kids remain restricted while adults are one step closer to normalcy is the latest evidence of our government’s backward, anti-child COVID response.
It’s long past time to reverse course. Two years into this pandemic, we have robust, real-world examples of countries, states and districts that prioritized in-person learning and children’s mental health over the totemic masking of the youngest children and did not suffer worse outcomes.
We cannot mask our way to COVID zero, and we are harming our children by trying. (Anyone who wants to keep masking, can! )
We need to recognize that children are at exceptionally low risk from COVID. Any schoolchild who wants to be vaccinated can be, and parents should decide whether their child needs the additional protection — if any — afforded by a mask.
Blue America is exceptional in its treatment of masking and children. The World Health Organization and other international groups have never recommended masking children 5 and under. Even mask recommendations for children 6 to 11 come with the significant caveat to consider the effect on “learning and psychosocial development.”
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2022/02/09/gov-hochul-you-need-to-unmask-our-children-now/
