Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said the county is no longer in a state of emergency when it comes to the spread of COVID-19, and it’s time to move forward. He said lifting the mask mandate in schools is a big part of that.
McMahon said he’s sending his own kids to school without a mask on Wednesday, and he thinks it’s time to focus on the effect masks have had on children in Onondaga County.
"Part of how (children) communicate is through actually reading the lips and seeing the actions,” said McMahon. “A lot of adults are that way as well, so these are all real issues that are happening and have been happening for years now."
Dr. Jana Shaw, a professor of pediatrics at SUNY Upstate’s Golisano Children’s Hospital, said masks still have value. She said they have been very effective at protecting kids from the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses, which is especially helpful for children considered high risk.
When deciding whether to keep masking, Shaw said parents should consider whether their children have contact with vulnerable family members or children under age 5 who aren’t eligible for vaccines, yet.
She said while the vast majority of children with COVID-19 have only mild symptoms, that’s not always the case.
“We really don’t know which children will do just fine and which children will end up with serious infection or will go on developing post-infectious complications, known as MIS-C,” said Shaw.
And she said for children’s social-emotional health, it helps to encourage kindness in the days to come.
Shaw says: "I think this is also a good time to remind our communities that we need to build tolerance and acceptance. We all have a right to choose freely how we want to protect ourselves."
