More than 100 high school students in Seattle walked out over a state decision to drop a mask mandate in schools, underscoring the competing pressures governors face as they attempt to manage COVID-19.
Students told the Seattle Times they were worried about another spike in infections and the health risks to themselves or vulnerable members of their households.
“Every time we try to get hasty and toss our masks off, we have another spike and another thousand people die,” Eridon Stewart, 17, said at a Monday rally at district headquarters.
The mask requirements for Seattle and other districts in Washington ended a week ago, but Seattle students want Superintendent Brent Jones to reinstate the mask mandate districtwide, the newspaper reported.
The walkout offered a look at the no-win situation policymakers face as they try to use vaccines and other tools to regain a sense of normal in the pandemic.
Governors say they don’t want to remain in an emergency posture forever, a stance cheered by advocates who say the mandates are an infringement on individual liberty, while the immunocompromised and others say officials are jumping the gun in lifting rules.
A version of omicron, known as the BA.2 variant, spreads swiftly and is causing a spike in Europe, prompting worry about the rising share of cases in the U.S. and another wave.
Scientists don’t think the variant will cause more severe disease, however, so the White House and others haven’t proposed new restrictions.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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