It has been made mandatory for millions of students in Florida, Texas, and Arizona to wear masks in class as the school boards in mostly Democratic locals are imposing anti-COVID mandates in resistance to their Republican governors.
On Tuesday, Aug 17, 2021, Wearing masks was made mandatory in an elementary school, students line up to enter school for the first day of classes in Richards to Prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Texas.
The Battle Over Mask Mandates In School Districts
The Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s executive made an official announcement through local officials to ban mask mandates while the Richardsons Independent School District and many others across the state did not obey the orders of the governor and are following the mask mandates.
Texas, Florida, and Arizona are the major states that have experienced the covid 19 surges in recent days, and defiant boards in Miami, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, and other urban areas argues that it is mandatory to wear masks to protect students, teachers, and staff from getting infected and spreading the virus to the other people around them.
The districts often follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has advised the people to follow the mask mandate and ensure that teachers, staff, and students all wear masks irrespective of the aspect of whether they’ve been vaccinated or not.
According to the Palm Beach PostMarcia Andrews, a member of the Palm Beach County, Florida, school board, said this week as it supported the mask mandate, “This virus is not playing with us,”. “We don’t want any kid to die due to ignorance.”
The governors argue that wearing masks is a major disturbance in learning and is not very effective in preventing the viruses from spreading and children are not likely to get infected with this disease and cannot cause serious illness from the disease. Many people argue that mask mandates violate the rights of the parents to decide which is the best way to protect their children from this deadly virus.
Brown economist Emily Oster recently stated that the governor did not consult her before opposing the mask mandate. She said that she supports masks mandates in schools.
Dr. Jessica Snowden, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, said it is proved that wearing masks can reduce the chances of spreading the virus among children if worn consistently. Further, she added when compared to previous variants, the delta variant infects children more often and can cause a serious impact on their health, and wearing masks does not impede learning.
she said “There is various evidence that supports wearing masks can help to prevent the rapid spread of the virus and there is no evidence that proves it can cause any harm to the public health, as children are more adaptable than adults.
Dallas school superintendent Michael Hinojosa said.“We will continue to follow the mask mandate and ensure that all the students, staff, and parents wear masks to protect them from this deadly virus ”
According to the Centres for Disease Control and prevention, Altogether Florida and Texas contribute 15% of the total population in the US while there is about 28 percent of its recent COVID-19 cases, and both states have experienced a rapid increase in hospitalization over the past two months. since June covid cases in Arizona have increased up to six times.
