It’s not so surprising, really, that Hawaii’s public schools will drop mandatory masking against COVID-19 when schools restart on Aug. 1. But is it wise?
According to the state Department of Health (DOH), which updated that policy with the Department of Education on Tuesday, it’s “the right time to do so.”
“The COVID landscape has changed, we’re at a different trajectory in the pandemic,” explained Dr. Sarah Kemble, state DOH epidemiologist. That’s thanks to wide availability of vaccines and boosters, plus new drug treatments and acquired immunity from previous infections, all leading to relatively lower incidence of critical illness. That underscores the importance for students and their families to stay up-to-date on their shots.
Left unsaid was the growing pushback, here and on the mainland, from those who feel infringed upon by masking and any other mandates, more than two years after COVID-19 burst on the scene and caused a global pandemic. COVID fatigue is settling in, even in the Aloha State.
The updated guidance aims to get families ready for what to expect, when school starts just over two weeks from now. The policy: Masks will be optional in the public schools, and will ratchet to “highly encouraged” when community levels of COVID-19 are “medium” or “high” by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention standards. Currently in the state, every county is in the “high” level, with only Kauai County at “medium.”
Also ending on Aug. 1 will be all school-related quarantines, which should lessen time out of school, and therefore, learning losses.
All these changes are understandable, given human nature and impatience to be “done” with COVID. But families and students should not take the policy easings to mean that the pandemic is over. It is not.
Yes, masking indoors will now be optional in the schools, but it’s still best to have the keiki keep them on. The highly contagious omicron subvariant BA.5 is spreading rapidly across the U.S. mainland, with every indication it will do likewise here soon. BA.5 has the dastardly ability to more easily evade antibodies acquired by vaccinations and earlier COVID infections — but it must be emphasized that immunizations can still keep infections mild, preventing severe symptoms and hospitalization.
So while school masking will decrease, what needs to increase are vaccinations and boosters. COVID vaccines have been approved for children ages 5 and up for a while now, and for keiki under 5 since mid-June, so consult your pediatrician. And while 73% of Hawaii students ages 12-17 have received their first two shots — a great feat — only 26% have received boosters. That’s a lot of young people who aren’t being optimally protected, and they should be.
