A few days ago, former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb made some waves when he said that masks will have a “negligible impact” on the spread of the Delta COVID-19 variant and that the CDC’s mask guidance for vaccinated people doesn’t make much sense:
Masks will have a “negligible impact” on the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19, and the emphasis should really be elsewhere.
Gottlieb: Let's face it, this new CDC mask guidance doesn't make much sensehttps://t.co/q89xnLK5lg pic.twitter.com/njcpXESYIW
— Ed Morrissey (@EdMorrissey) July 28, 2021
But this morning he was on “Face the Nation” where he said kids should absolutely be masked up in schools:
“I can’t think of a business right now that would put 30 unvaccinated people in a confined space without masks and keep them there for the whole day,” @ScottGottliebMD says. “No business would do that responsibly, and yet that’s what we’re going to be doing in some schools.” pic.twitter.com/pHpZRS5Aj2
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) August 8, 2021
And not only does he want kids masked up, but he also wants them in the higher quality N95-type masks:
Former FDA commissioner @ScottGottliebMD encourages schools to consider higher quality masks, like KN95s, ahead of academic year and to begin “operationalizing testing on a regular basis,” citing California and New York City testing regimes. pic.twitter.com/D2tXo1Cb4D
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) August 8, 2021
He suggested making these masks available to school districts like what Utah is doing:
KN95 masks – like Utah Governor @SpencerJCox has just made available to school districts that choose to use them – can provide a high quality option that can be worn more comfortably than an N95 mask while still affording more protection than many typical cloth or procedure masks https://t.co/Ckn7Z3QD7I
— Scott Gottlieb, MD (@ScottGottliebMD) August 8, 2021
But as NY Post contributor Karol Markowicz points out, this is ignoring what Europe did last year when they kept schools open without masks:
What's particularly terrible here is that Gottlieb was one of the slightly better, less hysterical ones. And yet here he is really pretending that kids are at the same risk as adults. This is a rejection of science. "HOW DID EUROPE DO THIS LAST YEAR?" should be the only question. https://t.co/YlbcFwaeIJ
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) August 8, 2021
Sigh:
European schools didn't put in new filtration systems, they largely didn't do social distancing and most places did not require masks under 12 years old *at all*. So how did their kids not have worse results when compared to American kids masked starting at age 2?
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) August 8, 2021
One thing we’re also seeing is they now want kids to change their masks multiple times per day:
Would love for experts like @ScottGottliebMD or @nytimes columnists @taraparkerpope to read this in more detail.
A 5 yo or even a 4th grader will not be able to remember to change their mask multiple times per day.
Do people realize how sick this is?
https://t.co/PfyerjYvdi pic.twitter.com/6BWMTNIxFq— NYC Angry Mom (@angrybklynmom) August 8, 2021
Exit question: Who is going to pay for that?
Who is paying for all of these masks? Yet again the brunt of the pandemic is borne by those who can afford to do so the least. https://t.co/Bl3Cxs2HPx
— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) August 8, 2021
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