Supports Science Based Policies That Take Kids Mental & Physical Health Into Account
By Dan Murphy
Saying “the time to act is now,” Yonkers Councilman John Rubbo asked for the Governor to ease masking restrictions at school.
“I believe that we need to be progressive in our thinking with regards to our school community and their health. The time has come to implement a plan that returns our schools to a sense of normalcy. In order to do so we must look to science,” stated Councilman Rubbo, who represents the 4th Council District.
As a father of two young school children and a local representative, the Councilman is asking Governor Hochul and the NYS Education & Health Departments to consider a universal policy that by effective March 1, 2022 loosens the restrictions placed on our school children and provides a clear metrics and strategy to transition from pandemic to endemic.
Look to mask options that have worked in other school districts across the country. For example, Positive Case Rate Triggers where any school building that reaches five (5) percent of students and staff with positive COVID-19 cases, that building will mask for five (5) calendar days or until the positive case rate drops below five (5) percent. If an elementary classroom has (5) or more positive cases, that class will mask for five (5) days. The State should provide clear guidance on vaccinated and unvaccinated students participating in sports, extracurricular activities and programs. Decisions should be based on facts and science and determined at the State level for universal rollout across all NY school districts. We have seen positive cases drop by 94% since January 7, and so its now time to receive clear guidance that does not drive fear into our society.
There will be socioeconomic effects across our cities, state and nation as a result of COVID-19. It is vital to our future to come together and work on a comprehensive plan to help our children, teachers and school staff. While our children are resilient, we need to be proactive in providing our kids the resources to support them during these next few years of development after dealing with two long years of COVID-19 including loss of family members, separation from friends and family, and virtual learning.
Per the CDC, up to 50% of children infected may not have shown any symptoms at all. As we have seen over the past 12 weeks through the Omicron variant, vaccinated individuals can still carry and transmit and show symptoms of COVID-19. This can be considered factual and scientific data that should be considered.
According to Vivek Murthy, the U.S. Surgeon General “the pandemic era’s unfathomable number of deaths, pervasive sense of fear, economic instability, and forced physical distancing from loved ones, friends, and communities have exacerbated the unprecedented stresses young people already faced.” The CDC found that in early 2021, U.S. emergency department visits for suspected attempted suicides were averaging 856 per week for 12- to 17-year-old girls and 196 per week for boys of the same age. That was 50.6% higher for girls and 3.7% higher for boys compared to the equivalent time period in early 2019.
“The time to act is now,” said Rubbo.
NY Governor Kathy Hochul recently announced on Feb. 9 that the mask mandate for indoor businesses would end immediately. But the Governor kept the mask mandate for schools, at least up to the February school winter recess, after which she will revaluate.
“Numbers are coming down, and it is time to adapt. But we are not saying its over,” said Gov. Hochul. “the numbers are trending much better and there definitely is an end in sight but students still need adults looking out for their health, this is all about protecting our children.”
