There’s No Science Behind the CDC’s Insistence on Universal Masking in Schools; Republicans Look to Punish Democrats for School Mask Mandates, and other C-Virus related stories

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There’s no science behind the CDC’s insistence on universal masking in schools:

A recent NPR report quotes a Maryland mother who complains that you risk being tarred as “a psychotic, anti-vax right-winger” if you dare to question whether children should be forced to wear face masks in day care and K‒12 schools. That attitude is based on the premise that rejecting mask requirements is tantamount to rejecting science.

The truth is closer to the opposite. Supporters of school mask mandates assume they are effective at reducing COVID-19 transmission, then desperately search for evidence to validate that conviction. That process bears little resemblance to science.

NPR says that “mask proponents . . . point to the many studies associating mask mandates with lower COVID-19 rates in schools.” But those studies are mostly imaginary.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began recommending “universal masking” in schools a year ago. At that point, there was no solid empirical basis for the CDC’s advice, and that is still true.

Most of the studies the CDC cited did not even compare schools with mask mandates with schools without them. One exception was a study of Georgia elementary schools published last May, which found that masking of teachers was associated with a statistically significant reduction in COVID-19 transmission, but masking of students was not. --->READ MORE HERE

Republicans look to punish Democrats for school mask mandates:

Republicans have stepped up pressure on Democrats to ditch mask mandates in K-12 schools, pointing to new signs the public is growing weary of pandemic restrictions and citing the detrimental effects they have on children’s development.

A group of Republican House members led by Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Kentucky’s James Comer, ranking member of House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to lift masking recommendations for school children.

“The extent of the protection masks provide, particularly in schools, remains unknown — and it might be very small,” they said. “Several experts note it is entirely possible that open windows or increased ventilation accounts for nearly all the mitigation benefit in a classroom and other 'layered' interventions may contribute only a marginal benefit or none at all.”

Many county governments and individual school districts cite CDC guidance in their mask orders for children.

In Virginia, newly elected Republicans, led by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, stepped up their efforts to prevent children from being forced to wear masks at schools. Attorney General Jason Miyares joined a lawsuit against the Loudoun County School Board for defying Youngkin’s executive order that allows parents to opt out of school mask mandates. --->READ MORE HERE

Follow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:

McConnell calls for end to masking in schools and state of emergency wind-down

Leftist Loudon County Wants to Suspend Maskless Kids, But Not a Transgender Rapist

USA TODAY: Coronavirus Updates

WSJ: Coronavirus Live Updates

YAHOO NEWS: Coronavirus Live Updates

NEW YORK POST: Coronavirus The Latest

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