Several Democratic governors are relaxing or removing mask mandates in their states. Oregon and California are relaxing the requirement that masks be worn in indoor public spaces. New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, and Oregon are removing the mandate that masks be worn in schools. In some cases, district school boards or superintendents may still require masks be worn, unlike here in Virginia where the new, Republican governor has said there can be no school mask mandates period. If masks become optional, consider the case of a parent's wanting a child to wear a mask at school while the child prefers to get off the bus and stuff it into a pocket. Should teachers be given the names of children whose parents wish that they stay masked? Will teachers be expected to be mask police in addition to all the other things they do or are? It will be interesting to see if such a quandary arises.
The jury is still out on just how helpful masking is. Do its benefits outweigh its risks? How different are children and adults when it comes to masks? Using a cost-benefit model, it is clear that the benefits of vaccines outweigh the risks. Things are not so clear-cut when it comes to masks especially for children. The US stands out for its use of masks on young children. The EU health agency does not recommend masking for children under the age of 12. Opponents of masks in schools say that masking brings with it difficulties in understanding teachers, teachers' inability to see children's faces, and a slower development of social skills. Optional mask-wearing at least provides one-way protection. Suppose, though, that there is a surge of a new, worse variant. How easy would it be to re-impose mask mandates?
Only one in 10 Americans thinks that covid will be eradicated by this time next year (I don't think covid will ever be eradicated as smallpox was). A survey of 1,049 adults conducted February 4-7 found that 21 percent of the respondents thought things should open up, that there should be no mandates or requirements. By political party, 43 percent of the Republicans felt this way compared with three percent of the Democrats. Almost 30 percent of respondents favored moving to open back up but with precautions. That total contained 14 percent of Republican respondents and 34 percent of Democratic respondents. Mostly keeping precautions an requirements in place for now was the choice of 23 percent of respondents, and 21 percent favored increasing mask mandates and vaccine requirements. A total of 51 percent--25 percent of the Republicans and 72 percent of the Democrats--supported businesses requiring proof of vaccination for entry.
The BA.2 variant has now been found in 57 countries and is dominant in several including Denmark, India, Nepal, the Philippines, and Qatar. In other international news, Japan just set a record for daily deaths, 155. Poland has delayed indefinitely the deadline for teachers, police, armed forces, and firefighters to be vaccinated, saying that it can't meet the current deadline. In Britain, 26 percent of employers now include long covid as a main cause of long-term sickness absence. Chinese scientists say they have developed a new covid test as accurate as PCR and that gives results within four minutes. After the delay in the start of yesterday's Canada-Russia women's hockey game due to a wait for test results, it's too bad the Chinese haven't switched over to this new covid test.
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