Sen. Rob Sampson On Masks in Schools for 2021-2022 School Year

August 14, 2021

WOLCOTT – Senator Rob Sampson (R-Wolcott) released the following statement in light of the Governor’s charge to CT municipalities to determine their own masking requirements via his latest executive order:

 

“I am calling upon local Boards of Education all across Connecticut to stand for freedom and with parents in resisting any mask mandate for school children for this upcoming school year.

 

“Despite rising positive cases, the rates for hospitalization and death from COVID-19 have remained low across Connecticut. Effectively, there is no current public health emergency.

 

“Further, the latest evidence shows that masks are ineffective. Healthy school-age children are at almost zero risk. Enough is enough. Personal health choices are just that – and should be left in the hands of individuals and parents.

 

“Boards of Education are responsible to their constituents. They do not work for the Governor or any other state agency. I look forward to standing with them and doing the right thing on behalf of the free citizens of Connecticut and their children.”

 

From RationalGround.com:

STUDIES AROUND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MASKS ARE INCONCLUSIVE

No association of risk mitigation and mask use
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30985-3/fulltext

No association of disease incidence and mask use
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.18.21251986v1.full.pdf

Best case scenario: a reduction of .09 to .6 odds ratio for wearing mask all the time. Even within a hospital setting the use of masks gives little evidence. “Therefore, evidence for mask use versus nonuse and comparing mask types in health care settings remained insufficient. There were no new studies on the effectiveness and safety of mask reuse or extended use.”
https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/L20-1292

A Danish randomized controlled trial with 6000 participants, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in November 2020, found no statistically significant effect of high-quality medical face masks against SARS-CoV-2 infection in a community setting.
https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-6817

A July 2020 review by the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine found that there is no evidence for the effectiveness of face masks against virus infection or transmission

IMPROPER MASKING IS COMMON AND UNSANITARY

Our analysis of a set of masks worn by children demonstrated significant pathogens found on children’s masks including pneumonia and cow herpes:

Wearing masks for long periods of time could result in potentially hazardous chemicals
https://www.ecotextile.com/2021040127603/dyes-chemicals-news/exclusive-chemical-cocktail-found-in-face-masks.html

SCHOOLS WITHOUT MASKS HAVE NOT FARED WORSE

Comparison of cases with school mask mandates and no mandates in Florida, New York, and Massachusetts.

“We do not find any correlations with mask mandates.”
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.19.21257467v1.full

Schools in Sweden had no masking and fared just fine
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2026670

Analysis of school data shows lower case rates in schools without masks
https://statsiq.co1.qualtrics.com/public-dashboard/v0/dashboard/5f78e5d4de521a001036f78e#/dashboard/5f78e5d4de521a001036f78e?pageId=Page_ffb4dc52-5543-46b2-8126-2b7229fd1b17

Raw data on schools across specific states
https://statsiq.co1.qualtrics.com/public-dashboard/v0/dashboard/5f78e5d4de521a001036f78e#/dashboard/5f78e5d4de521a001036f78e?pageId=Page_4c1464ba-3550-4999-afee-9455713b9486

MASKS CAN BE DETRIMENTAL TO DEVELOPMENT

Impact on pediatric mental health from COVID-19

Masks can exacerbate mental issues in children

Numerous effects might be seen from extended mask wearing
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4344

Mask use might be associated with headaches on other child ailments
https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-124394/v2

Autism and mask wearing
https://researchautism.org/the-challenge-of-face-masks/

ABOUT COVID AND SCHOOLS

LOW RISK FOR CHILDREN

Mortality rate among children is zero for children without pre-existing medical conditions
https://s3.amazonaws.com/media2.fairhealth.org/whitepaper/asset/Risk%20Factors%20for%20COVID-19%20Mortality%20among%20Privately%20Insured%20Patients%20-%20A%20Claims%20Data%20Analysis%20-%20A%20FAIR%20Health%20White%20Paper.pdf

Children are at very low risk of COVID-19
https://osf.io/ezdf2/

Children have strong preexisting immunity to Sars-Cov-2
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6522/1339

Hospital outcomes for children significantly better than adults
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2766037

Children spread COVID-19 much less than adults
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2766037

CHILDREN SPREAD COVID LESS FREQUENTLY

Adults living with children are not at increased risk of contracting the disease:
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.01.20222315v1

In fact, the disease was attenuated in families with children:
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.01.20222315v1

Children “act as a brake” on the disease. (Massive study out of Germany)
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.01.20222315v1

Transmission is typically from adult-to-child not from child-to-adult:
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.01.20222315v1

https://www.journalofinfection.com/article/S0163-4453(21)00209-7/fulltext#relatedArticles

Bottom line: children are less susceptible to COVID-19 than adults
https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008559

Children are not super spreaders
https://adc.bmj.com/content/105/7/618.info

ASYMPTOMATIC SPREAD FROM CHILDREN IS RARE

As with adults, asymptomatic spread is less than 1% in secondary attack rate:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2774102

Viral loads in children are significantly lower than in adults
https://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/JCM.02593-20

No evidence of relevant asymptomatic spread in childcare facilities
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.16.21255616v1

In-person learning in New York City public schools not associated with increased prevalence
https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/early/2021/03/05/peds.2021-050605.full.pdf

TEACHERS DO NOT FACE INCREASED RISK FROM CHILDREN

Minimal transmission in primary schools
https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.26.1.2002011#abstract_content

U.S. Child Care Programs show no significant impact from COVID-19

No association of elevated risk for school providers
https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/147/1/e2020031971.long

Spread among schools in the Fall was subordinate at best
https://www.cream-migration.org/publ_uploads/CDP_22_20.pdf

The risk of in-person schooling for teachers is are comparable to the risks of commuting by automobile
https://www.nber.org/papers/w28619

SCHOOLS HAVE NOT DRIVEN THE SPREAD OF COVID-19

Extremely limited secondary transmission in schools
https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/147/4/e2020048090

Were the risks of opening schools exaggerated
https://www.npr.org/2020/10/21/925794511/were-the-risks-of-reopening-schools-exaggerated

Unicef: “the net benefits of keeping schools open outweigh the costs of closing them.”
https://www.unicef.org/coronavirus/six-point-plan-protect-children

Transmission in school settings were uncommon
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30882-3/fulltext

More information at https://rationalground.com/masks-children-and-covid-19-published-studies/