GOP challenges COVID-19 guidelines for children's masks

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore

It has been reported that the House Republican leadership is challenging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) guidelines on protective mask use in schools, which includes the COVID-19 guidelines.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky was asked in a letter from House Minority Whip Steve Scalise to reverse her recommendation that children wear masks, citing the potential harm to their minds. Walensky is asked to explain why the CDC continues to recommend mask wear in schools by Feb. 7 in the letter the group sends Walensky.

According to the report, teenagers and young children are undergoing a mental health crisis of historic proportions due to pandemic restrictions, with the U.S. doctor's warning that "suicide attempts are rising sharply among young people."

Members of the GOP House also criticized mask guidelines for children over 2 by saying they hinder development and do not follow other mask requirements. The letter also mentioned that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control discourages primary school children from wearing masks in class and that the World Health Organization recommends preventing children under the age of six from using masks.

Numerous studies have shown that children have an exceptionally low risk of dying or developing severe disease from COVID-19. According to the available data, the people who are the most susceptible to the virus are those who are elderly and those with preexisting conditions.

CTM News

31 Jan 2022