Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont recently announced that the decision to enforce the mask mandate is now up to individual school districts in Connecticut. The Stamford Board of Education has decided to lift the mask mandate starting on March 15. For the first time since the start of the pandemic, masks will be eliminated in schools. As per usual, this announcement surrounding masks has sparked controversy and disagreement. The question is, should we still be required to wear masks in school? In my opinion, yes. Although COVID rates have lowered substantially, that does not mean the virus is dead. 

COVID has spiked numerous times, so how can we be so sure it won’t happen again? With no masks, the transmission rate for COVID will increase rapidly and spikes in the virus can easily reoccur. On top of that, classrooms are not properly socially distanced whatsoever. Desks are no more than 2 feet apart, putting students at an even higher risk. 

In addition, many students are still not vaccinated. Whether by choice, or by force, those who are unvaccinated are at a higher risk. Recent state data says that “For the week beginning January 16, 2022, unvaccinated persons had a 3.1 times greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19 compared to fully vaccinated persons. For the week beginning January 16, 2022, unvaccinated persons had a 12.9 times greater risk of dying from COVID-19 compared to fully vaccinated persons.” As of Monday, the vaccination rate for children under 11 is still less than 50 percent, so we still have to be wary and protect the younger children.

Last April, when Stamford High made the switch from hybrid to full capacity in school, COVID spiked tremendously. As we can see from the graph*, when the school was at full capacity with masks cases were increasing, so why would we take away the masks and risk the repetition of a peak? I believe we should continue to wear masks to help keep the students, staff, family members, and citizens of our community safe.

*Graph from BBC- Shows spike in COVID in April of 2021