COVID-19: Masks optional for students as US schools reopen amid rising infections

Students, including kindergartners, returned to classrooms in the USA, on Friday, some wearing masks, others without, even as the country continued to register a rapid surge in coronavirus infections caused by the Delta variant.  

Schools across the US reopened with the use of masks remaining ‘optional’ for students. Several schools highly recommended the use of protective face coverings but did not make its use mandatory. Outside one such school, the Tussahaw Elementary in Henry County, Atlanta, parents were seen dropping their wards; some followed health safety protocols, while others remained non-compliant. There are 43,000-students in Henry County, who would now be stepping outside their homes to visit their schools, leaving parents and guardians concerned about the safety of their wards.

President Joe Biden's administration has given state governors the freedom to decide on COVID-19 safety protocol adherence.  

Shatavia Dorsey, mother to a fifth-grader told reporters that she was going to ensure that her children wore their masks at school regardless of the rules.

“They’re not vaccinated,” she exclaimed adding that the children are too young. “I don’t know if someone else is carrying (COVID-19),” she said while expressing doubts on the school’s ability to contain the spread if an outbreak occurs. 

Earlier this week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics issued an advisory recommending that school children, especially those coming from communities with substantial or high COVID-19 transmission, wear protective masks on campus.

The advisory has, however, faced strong resistance from a group of reluctant parents and school staff. Several school administrations believe that the mandatory use of masks would be an intrusion on parents, and it was best if the choice was left for parents to decide.

States divided on the use of masks 

Some states such as California, Louisiana, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington DC plan to mandate the use of protective masks for all, including the parents, children, and teachers, irrespective of whether they have been vaccinated or not. Several other states have, however, decided to make the use of masks optional. 

In Florida, where the COVID-19 cases recently broke the highest record, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida told a press conference that decision of whether to wear masks in school should be made by parents.

“What are the harmful effects of putting a kindergartener in a mask for seven hours? Have they talked about the emotional, the academic, the physiological? Why isn’t CDC studying that?” the Florida governor argued.

As many as 800 students and staff members in Marion, Arkansas were quarantined after being exposed to a COVID-19 positive individual in the district. Marion Superintendent Glen Fenter urged lawmakers to overturn the state law making masks optional and cautioned about the possibility of a “full-blown” crisis. 

(With inputs from AP)