A Maryland elementary school has sparked outrage by reinstating mask mandates for students, despite only a handful of schoolkids testing positive for COVID-19.
Rosemary Hills Elementary School in Montgomery County, Maryland, sent a letter to parents on Tuesday saying that masks would be required for all students and staff for the next 10 days. The letter said the decision was made after “three or more individuals” tested positive for COVID-19 in the last ten days.
The letter also said that third-graders would be required to wear N95 masks, which are more effective at blocking the spread of COVID-19.
The school is located in Silver Spring and is part of the Montgomery County Public Schools district.
Students at Rosemary Hills Elementary must wear masks “except when eating or drinking,” Kennedy said.
Parents will also be sent at-home rapid COVID tests, and the school is asking them to report any positive test results to the school attendance office.
Rosemary Hills is not the only entity resurrecting mask mandates this fall.
Morris Brown College, a private, historically black liberal arts school in Atlanta, announced a two-week mask mandate last month.
The White House administration recently recommended that many people get not only a COVID booster shot, but also a flu shot and a shot for RSV, a respiratory virus that can be dangerous for infants and elderly adults.
One doctor who is an advisor to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) compared an annual COVID booster to “a seatbelt in a car,” saying it is good to keep using it.
The school’s decision to reinstate mask mandates is an example of government overreach and is an infringement on individual liberties. Many argue that the school should not be able to force children to wear masks, especially when there is no evidence that masks are effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19 among children. They also argue that the school is overreacting to the threat of COVID-19 and that the mask mandate is unnecessary.
A DC area elementary school — Montgomery County, Maryland — is reinstating a mask mandate — N95’s — for third graders over a few kids testing positive for covid. Here’s the letter. They’re coming with masks for your kids again. Get ready. Read this insanity. pic.twitter.com/LZs4N19XLL
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) September 5, 2023
