Georgia Schools That Required Masks Had No COVID-19 Cases During First Month of School

Georgia schools that required students to wear face masks had no COVID-19 cases during the first month since classes started. Cobb County reported no new cases after it mandated even pre-kindergarten students to wear face coverings in school. 

Fewer cases because of mask-wearing

Counties in Georgia as a whole had fewer proportionate cases of infected children compared to those who did not require masks in school. It showed that mask-wearing is effective in preventing the spreading of the deadly virus. 

In August, Swainsboro Middle School of eastern Georgia opened up and did not require students to wear masks. About half of the students wore them; as a result, the virus had spread. After a couple of days, the receptionist, who wore a mask, called in sick.

Soon, positive cases rushed through the building. More than 100 students got infected, and at least nine teachers caught the virus. Within the first two months of school, the county would have the most school-age COVID cases in the state. 

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A hairdresser in Springfield, Missouri, got infected with COVID-19 in May. At that time, the hairstylist and another colleague interacted without wearing face masks. The hairdresser had spread the virus to four more close contacts.

Children carry higher levels of the virus

A study proved that while children might be safe from the virus, some may carry higher levels of the virus in their airways. It means that even though they are less likely to become seriously ill from contracting COVID, they could still transmit it to the surrounding people. 

Another research revealed that mask-wearing significantly dropped the number of coronavirus cases. The research team studied 15 states that required people to wear face coverings and found that the cases decreased by 0.9 points. The numbers further dropped by two percentage points after over three weeks. 

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(Photo: Unsplash/Kelly Sikkema)

Personal responsibility in wearing masks

Doug Burgum, North Dakota Governor, noted that people should not be required to wear face masks. He explained that people should have "personal responsibility" in doing the act. For nearly two months, infection rates in North Dakota were increasing than in any other place in the US. 

Due to this, North Dakota soon required their people to wear masks. After that happened, the number of cases decreased by 45 percent. Apart from that, deaths from the disease also lowered by 26 percent. 

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Better for schools to mandate wearing masks

Parenting website Scary Mommy believes that masks should be mandatory in schools. While some parents want to give their children freedom from getting their faces covered, children do adapt quickly to protocols like wearing masks. 

To avoid letting schools shut down with the spread of the virus, the outlet noted that mask-wearing should be required in schools. It also said parents could help free their kids from the feeling that their parents' apathy has caused the spread of the virus.