Wayne County Health Department Should Issue a School Mask Mandate
COVID has ravaged our state and hit Wayne County especially hard. Michigan’s first COVID death claimed the life of a Wayne County man in March 2020, and over 2,500 Wayne County residents have died since. Throughout the pandemic, the Wayne County Health Department has acted swiftly and decisively to save residents’ lives, and should continue to follow the science and issue a mask mandate for K-12 public schools before the beginning of the 2021–2022 school year.
The impact of the Delta variant threatens our unvaccinated residents most, which includes 100% of the state’s children 11 and under. Recognizing this danger, the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services (MDHHS) issued updated recommendations on August 13th for schools to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. MDHHS recommends that “all schools require universal masking for students, staff, and visitors regardless of community transmission rate or vaccination status.” Key strategies recommended by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) echo this and include requiring consistent and correct mask use for all. According to the CDC, mask use has been proven to substantially reduce transmission in school settings.
The Wayne County Health Department has been a leader in combating this epidemic by following the evolving guidance issued by the CDC and MDHHS and being a proactive partner in vaccinating our residents and staff, and we continue to lead by making booster shots readily available for immunocompromised residents. Wayne County must continue to lead, with safety in mind, and issue a mask mandate for K-12 public schools in accordance with the CDC and state recommendations.
States and districts who have failed to issue school mask mandates are seeing an alarming rate of sick and quarantined children as a result. According to the American Academy of Pediatricians, the US has seen a four-fold increase in COVID cases amongst children in the last month. For the week ending on August 19th, children comprised 22.4% of all new COVID-diagnosis, and this number is expected to grow as more students return to school. For example, Kershaw County School District in South Carolina reported that 116 students and 20 staff members tested positive for COVID-19 during the first week of school. Masks are optional in this school district. The Indiana Health Department is also reporting a significant increase in COVID-19 cases within their schools driven primarily by districts who have opted out of mask mandates.
As schools reopen, children’s hospitals are beginning to fill to capacity for the first time in this pandemic. There are no available hospital beds for children in the entire state of Mississippi, and in many cities across the country ranging from Dallas — Fort Worth, TX to Rochester, NY. While COVID deaths for children remain thankfully low, just one preventable death is too many. An eighth grade girl in Mississippi died last week after testing positive and being admitted to a hospital. She was attending Raleigh High School, which didn’t require masks until the 4th day of school. Almost 700 students and staff are now in quarantine from that district.
As we approach the traditional start of the Michigan school year, a growing number of counties have issued either full, or K-6 school mask mandates to keep our children safe. These counties include Kent, Genesee, Kalamazoo, Allegan, Ottawa, and Oakland. Wayne County has a moral obligation to protect people’s safety, and that should begin with our children. I implore the Wayne County Health Department to follow the CDC guidelines and issue a mask mandate within our schools to keep our children safe.
Melissa Daub
Wayne County Commissioner, District 10: Canton Township, Plymouth, Plymouth Township
