New York City Ends Mask Mandates For Students Five And Older, Leaving Some Wary

Upper West Side NY

14 April, 2022

5:04 PM

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By Gowri Konkesa, Columbia Daily Spectator • April 13, 2022, 1:48 AM Even though New York City's Department of Education lifted the mask mandate for public school children above the age of five on March 7, Jason Yarn's son continues to wear a mask in class. "I don't know where that line of actual safety and then just social aspect lies," said Yarn, a resident of Washington Heights whose fifth-grade son attends P.S. 165, regarding his son's decision. "I'm very much on the fence. … It's all fine for right now. But we also know that there are new variants coming and there are certain people who [are] still very high risk." The DOE lifted the mask mandate for children over five as cases and hospitalizations sharply declined after their winter peak, with Mayor Eric Adams citing his desire to return the city to pre-pandemic normalcy. The decision, however, is proving controversial, as some public health officials disagree with ending the mandate due to varying vaccination rates in children as well as the emergence of the new BA.2 variant. On Feb. 9, five researchers from the Mailman School of Public Health and Teachers College published an open letter to elected officials urging them to reconsider ending the indoor mask mandates in schools. Since then, the letter has amassed 459 signatories, each of whom was vetted for expertise in the public health field. Sonali Rajan holds a doctorate in education, is an associate professor of health education at Teachers College, a public school parent, and one of the letter's authors. Rajan said that she and her colleagues were motivated to write the letter after seeing "policy decisions being made that were not being tied to clear public health metrics." Rajan is worried that the new and highly contagious BA.2 variant will cause cases to spike in schools and that a mask mandate will eventually be reinstated: "[It] will come back, but it will come back at a point when things have already gotten out of control." Decisions should also be made with an eye toward disparities in vaccination rates, Rajan said. According to city data, 57.52 percent of children ages five to 17 in Morningside Heights and West Harlem are fully vaccinated, compared to 93.18 percent on the Upper West Side. Children who contract COVID-19 at school bring it home to their families, which should, according to Rajan, be taken into account. "The number of children who have lost parents or caregivers to COVID-19 … has disproportionately [included] Black children, American Indian children," Rajan said. "So we are seeing disparities in those kinds of outcomes." The city advocated for ending the mandate, citing high accessibility to vaccines. Vaccines protect against more serious illness, causing some to equate the seriousness of COVID-19 for the vaccinated with the flu or common cold. Since his family is vaccinated and low risk, Yarn explained that he is "not very afraid." Instead of ending mask mandates, Rajan believes that city officials should focus on raising vaccination rates among children. A better testing strategy and improved ventilation are, she thinks, additional steps officials need to take prior to lifting the mandate to address the spread of COVID-19. Although Yarn's son continues to wear a mask in school now, Yarn hopes that his son will not have to worry about masking as he starts sixth grade. "He will be going into a new school, and he'll be meeting a lot of new people," Yarn said. "And I think that that's a difficult thing, to go in and not see people's faces." The social and emotional benefits of seeing the faces of peers is a strong reason why some students and parents favor unmasking. Forming connections through name and facial recognition is harder with a face covering, and young children also benefit from seeing their teachers' facial expressions in conjunction with their voices. "We want school kids to be able to learn. We want them to go to after-school programs and engage in art and music and sports," Rajan said. "But we have to make sure that we are doing that safely." Staff Writer Hannah Halberstam contributed to reporting. Trainee Gowri Konkesa can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow Spectator on Twitter @ColumbiaSpec. Founded in 1877, the Columbia Daily Spectator is the independent undergraduate newspaper of Columbia University, serving thousands of readers in Morningside Heights, West Harlem, and beyond. Read more at columbiaspectator.com and donate here.