Exposure
Yesterday, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey threatened to take millions of dollars away from school districts that dare to mandate masks to stop the spread of Covid. Last week, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida tried to withhold the salaries of school superintendents and board members who did the same. A few days later, he found he didn’t really have that power – but he tried.
So let’s look at the facts. The Covid virus now confronting us, the Delta-variant, is hundreds of times more infectious than the original ‘B’ virus we faced last year. Because it is so infectious, more children are getting sick. And at the moment there is no vaccine for children under 12, and many of the therapeutic drugs (like remdesivir) have very limited testing on younger children.
It would make sense then, to avoid having children exposed to the virus. And, as we discovered in the first round of Covid last year, it’s not just about one person wearing a mask. It’s about everyone wearing a mask – to prevent transmission from a person who is infected and doesn’t know it, and to prevent infection by others.
What We Learned
We did make some discoveries last year. With the original Covid, outdoor transmission was unlikely. We all waited for the “super spreader” outbreaks after the Black Lives Matter protests. They didn’t happen, because most wore masks and the protests were outdoors. On the other hand, indoor crowded events, particularly unmasked, did generate disease transmission. President Trump’s unmasked indoor rally in Tulsa (where Herman Cain caught Covid and eventually died from it) and the massive motorcycle rally at Sturgis both were “super spreader” events. (Note: while the rally was outdoors, the drinking afterwards was definitely indoors).
And even though the contrast WAS political (BLM versus Trump and Sturgis) it wasn’t about politics – it’s about the science: masks or no masks, indoor or outdoor.
But the current version of Covid is much more infective. And we know that schools are traditionally where diseases spread – from chicken pox to measles to the flu. And that makes sense. We put groups of individuals in close contact with each other indoors for extended periods of time – we call it “class”. So viruses spread, and kids get sick.
It is common sense to try to control the infectiousness in schools, just like it was for the chicken pox, the measles, and still is for the flu. But for those diseases, we have well accepted vaccines and treatments. What were school-wide measles or chicken pox epidemics in “my day” back in the 1960’s, are now anachronisms – “back in the day” stories. And, by the way, back “in the day” we also lined kids up for the polio vaccine: in schools.
Masks work – that’s not a question, it’s a fact. Mask everyone, and they work even better. That’s what school superintendents’ know – and they know it’s how to protect “their” kids, and their staff, and their communities.
What Governors Know
So why don’t Governors know that?
DeSantis, Ducey and Greg Abbott of Texas (who now has Covid) all claim that they are fighting for “the freedom” to not wear masks. It’s a claim of individual liberty. But those same Governors accept that children have dress codes in schools, can’t carry weapons, and even demand that they be allowed to pray. So they don’t seem to have a problem with letting schools control all kinds of other actions, including what children (and staff) wear. So why masks are different than Budweiser hats or jeans with holes in the crotch is hard to figure.
It may just be political expediency. DeSantis, Ducey and Abbott (sounds like a TV law firm) all are dependent on a Trumpian voter base for re-election. Unfortunately mask wearing is politically symbolic – and the Trump base doesn’t wear them (or get vaccinated). So it’s possible that the Governors are just pandering to their base.
Health
But I hope they would put the health of their constituents, all of their constituents, first. So is there some scientific theory that might explain their adamant position? The “herd immunity” view is that the more people get the disease, the better off our whole society would be. The problem is that many will die, and that more will have long term effects from Covid.
The advantage of the “herd immunity” argument is that it doesn’t require any community controls. Commerce can continue without abatement, which in plain language means that the economy shouldn’t be impacted. But that depends on everyone being willing to risk getting sick: including kids. Restaurants and stores won’t be filled if folks are afraid of getting infected. So “herd immunity” might not be such a great idea.
And, of course, the hospitals will be over-filled, and folks will die – there’s that.
Educators are notoriously hard-headed – take it from me, I was one. And teachers are incredibly protective of “their” kids. So it really isn’t a surprise that schools are defying Governors and mandating masks, just like they mandate pants in the dress code. It’s a lot more important than modesty. It’s the health of their kids.
