zlacker

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/mandatory-mask...

“In the current study, most COVID-19 cases among students and staff were acquired from the community and approximately 10% of cases were acquired within school. The researchers found that for every 100 community-acquired cases, school districts with mandatory masking had approximately 7.3 cases of in-school infections, while optionally masked districts had 26.4 cases of in-school infections. In other words, school districts with optional masking had approximately 3.6 times the rate of in-school COVID-19 cases when compared to schools with mandatory masking. These data also show that mandatory masking was associated with a 72% reduction of in-school COVID-19 cases, compared to districts with optional masking.”

From Pediatrics:

https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/149/6/e20220...

>>lemmsj+(OP)
Who cares about in-school infections when community spread is 10x higher? What was the total spread in mandated vs freed districts? Was it significantly different?

>>petera+bK
Well… me for one? We were limiting the Covid exposure of my daughter’s grandparents as much as possible and the school’s masking policy helped limit that exposure vector. And another, the teachers and staff, who we care about greatly.

I don’t know that masking in schools was the best idea. In my limited purview I think it was a good idea in our child’s school, because things seemed to go well overall. I was responding to the GP who appears to think it’s idiocy to even countenance the idea because there are no studies, when there are, and that it’s so wrong that it’s a form of superstition.