Dear Editor:
Masks Reduce Infection Rates!
The article headlined “Data Shows: School Mask Mandates Make No Difference” in the Jan. 7 Yellowstone County News draws a conclusion that isn’t supported by the “data” it quotes. The numbers presented don’t answer the question of whether masks worn in schools help reduce the spread of COVID-19 virus.
This flawed argument fails to take into account the rates of mask compliance and COVID-19 testing within the schools. Without that information, the statistics on enrollment and case totals tell us nothing.
Throughout the school year, School District 2 has worked with St. John’s United to provide tests specifically for SD2 students and staff to make testing as available as possible. The mask-optional schools in the county tend to be farther away from testing sites, making testing more inconvenient. We cannot rule out the possibility that there were critical differences in the testing practices between mask- required and mask-optional schools. We don’t have the data needed to draw the conclusion promoted by school mask opponents – and neither do they.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is coordinating a nationwide study with local school volunteers to collect data on the rate of proper mask use within schools. Unfortunately, although the information to take part in this study was presented to schools in Yellowstone County, no schools here signed on to participate.
Peer-reviewed, scientifically valid studies have found that wearing masks reduced the rate of COVID-19 infection. The Journal of the American Medical Association recently cited numerous studies documenting mask effectiveness, including customers at a hair salon in Missouri, for sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, among Boston, Mass., healthcare workers, in Arizona, Kansas and Canada communities after masks were required in public.
Masks are just one tool – along with vaccination, hand washing, distancing, avoiding crowds and staying home when sick – to help reduce COVID-19 transmission.
Justan Baker
RiverStone Health
Epidemiologist
Billings, MT
