According to experts, the coronavirus pandemic is far from over. But as states move toward reopening, in hopes of rescuing the economy and returning to some sense of normalcy, lawmakers are starting to roll out some guidelines as to what that may look like. In Jackson County, Missouri, that includes new rules for children who reenter day care. According to lawmakers, children 2 and older will be asked to wear face masks as much as possible while attending day care and/or school — but not everyone's happy about that.
Missouri was among the first states to reopen earlier this month, beginning Phase 1 on May 4.
However, not all of the state has been reopened, according to KMOV. (For instance, the city and county of St. Louis remain closed, because 55% of Missouri's coronavirus cases and 65% of the state's deaths have been reported in the region.) But for those that are open, Gov. Mike Parson is allowing residents to "return to economic and social activities," the station reported.
That said, there are some guidelines. Limits of social gatherings, both at private residences and places of worship, have been lifted, but social distancing must be practiced at all times. Other precautions (such as regular hand washing and/or sanitizing) must also be practiced. And, within each county, officials have been issuing some additional recommendations — hence, the new face mask rule.
The news came last week, when Jackson County released its new "Phase 1 Recovery Plan."
In it, lawmakers detail which businesses and local services can be opened in Phase 1, as well as some guidelines for personal hygiene, facility cleaning practices, and other new protocol.
When it comes to day cares, parents are advised to keep children home whenever possible, but otherwise "Children should be cared for in rooms of 10 or less with the same caregiver each day (and cohorted so that same children are in the same room each day)," the guidelines state.
It continued: "Employees must wash or sanitize hands upon entering and exiting the building and throughout the day," adding that children should also "wash hands frequently throughout the day."
Those stipulations were apparently easier pills to swallow for some parents, who find the face mask rule to be impractical, at best.
"How am I supposed to explain to my 4-year-old that she’s going to be required to wear a mask eight hours a day, five days a week, 40 hours?" Ceara Layne told Fox 4. "That’s a lot for a 4-year-old."
Although Layne admitted that she's pro face mask and has tried to teach her preschool-aged daughter that they're a positive thing, she just can't see her daughter willingly wearing one all day once she heads back to work.
And she's not alone.
News of the new recommendation has been making its way around social media, where people have been having some feelings.
"Good luck with that!" tweeted one woman.
"While I love this recommendation, the persons making it have obviously never tried to get a toddler to do anything," another woman wrote on Facebook. "I wish my 2-year-old would wear a mask."
"This is about the dumbest thing I've heard yet," someone else added. "Let me know when you get them to stop picking their nose and eating it and we can talk about how they will properly wear a mask."
In short, a lot of people agreed that while the idea sounds great in theory, it just doesn't seem feasible.
Then there was the chorus of naysayers who think the whole mask thing somehow violates their rights.
"How is this going to work? How many kids do you know will keep one on? How will this affect their speech and language development? How are kids going to be able to self soothe (pacifiers, thumb sucking, etc.)?" one woman on Facebook asked. "This is getting out of hand … This is more about control and taking away our rights."
"I am so tired of the government telling us what we can and can not do!" another proclaimed. "I thought this I was America!"
There were also people who wondered aloud whether the masks would lead to an increase in suffocation/SIDS or if carbon dioxide could somehow become trapped in the masks.
As one mother pointed out, children wearing masks for protection is actually nothing new.
"Cancer mom here: this is nothing new!" she commented. "Anytime a child is immune compromised they wear a mask. If they can’t, parents take other precautions like strollers with coverings … Cancer moms and dads are already doing this and much more!"
Aside from that, the guidelines are actually not far from what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already recommends. Last month, the federal agency advised that when in public and unable to social distance, all Americans should wear face coverings — except for those younger than 2.
According to the official CDC website:
"We now know from recent studies that a significant portion of individuals with coronavirus lack symptoms ("asymptomatic") and that even those who eventually develop symptoms ("pre-symptomatic") can transmit the virus to others before showing symptoms. This means that the virus can spread between people interacting in close proximity– for example, speaking, coughing, or sneezing — even if those people are not exhibiting symptoms. In light of this new evidence, CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community-based transmission."
The CDC also shares information on how to properly wear a face mask to promote proper breathing, should suffocation or lack of airflow be a concern.
It's also important to note that the Jackson County recommendation is just that -- a recommendation.
Although parents, teachers, and child care providers may be confused and even overwhelmed by new guidelines that may come up as states work to reopen, it seems the message is clear: Things won't be "normal" for a while, and until there's a treatment for the virus, we're going to need to adjust our lives accordingly.
The fact is, there's still so much we don't know about COVID-19 or its spread, as Dr. Anthony Fauci reminded us during his Senate testimony this week.
"We don’t know everything about this virus and we really better be pretty careful, particularly when it comes to children," Fauci warned. "I think we better be careful [that] we are not cavalier in thinking that children are completely immune from the deleterious effects."
