Some Republican political leaders in the Mountain West are casting doubt on the effectiveness of wearing masks in schools, drawing condemnation from the medical community as the COVID-19 delta variant drives case counts to their highest levels in months and children under 12 remain ineligible to get vaccinated.
On Tuesday, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte urging schools to let kids opt out of wearing masks for various reasons, including 鈥渕oral conviction.鈥� He panned "arbitrary mask mandates" and claimed "a lack of meaningful, reliable research" on whether they protect kids.
Gianforte's office sent out a that cherry-picks from studies and articles to suggest that the science around the protectiveness of masks in schools is inconclusive, and that wearing them can be detrimental to children鈥檚 health and wellbeing.
The Montana Medical Association, Montana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Montana Association of Pediatric Psychiatrists, Montana Nurses Association and Montana Primary Care Association issued a joint statement that said the rule "undermines an effective, proven public health measure to help keep our kids in school and our emergency rooms open.鈥�
Katie Loveland, a public health consultant and former Montana Department of Health and Human Services staffer, that Gianforte's document is "truly the most terrible misrepresentation of evidence I've seen in public health in my 15 years of public health practice in Montana."
In Utah 鈥� where 39,000 children are expected to test positive for COVID-19 in September, according to the state epidemiologist 鈥� Gov. Spencer Cox this week also , without evidence, that 鈥渕asks are not as effective as most of the pro-mask crowd are arguing."
Cox's statement comes as Utah medical professionals are already struggling to overcome, as The Salt Lake Tribune recently , the "two big hurdles in getting students to wear masks at school this year: state lawmakers and misinformation."
David Pate, a retired physician and member of the Idaho governor鈥檚 Coronavirus Work Group, likens masks to a Kevlar vest 鈥� it can help stop a bullet but isn't guaranteed.
鈥淢asks unquestionably work but they are not failproof," he said.
Even a recent that Gianforte's office cited concluded that "COVID-19 incidence was 37% lower in schools that required teachers and staff members to use masks and 39% lower in schools that improved ventilation."
A recent analysis from the Environmental Protection Agency showed that in filtering out small respiratory particles such as the coronavirus. Regular cloth masks, however, varied widely. Some were only 28% efficient while others hovered near 50% efficiency.
But Pate says some protection is better than none because the delta variant is much more contagious than last year鈥檚 COVID-19 strain.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think the general population understands what a scary situation this is and what it can mean to them and their families,鈥� he said.
Meanwhile, Montana鈥檚 largest hospital is asking Gianforte to to assist doctors and nurses, of the coronavirus, an has forced it to go virtual, and a hospital official in Idaho said Thursday that health care providers are now facing
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