Tuesday's Los Angeles Times editorial calling on the state to keep school mask mandates in place as it removes the restriction for vaccinated adults this week, drew immediate fire from critics on Twitter calling the measure ''cruel'' and ''evil.''
''What you are doing to children with your forced masking regime is EVIL,'' Federalist Editor-in-Chief Mollie Hemingway posted on the social media platform in reaction to the opinion piece by the newspaper's editorial board.
The newspaper said it agreed with California Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly, who said Monday that while the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are down significantly since last month, and the state is dropping the public mask mandates for vaccinated adults, it would be keeping it in place for school, children.
''Based on our data… it's reasonable that we're getting to a place where we can relax the (school) statewide masking requirement,'' Ghaly said Monday. ''We will today not make a change. There will be no change on the masking requirement.''
He said the state will reassess the requirement at the end of the month.
''Ghaly is right to delay, though COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have dropped dramatically since January. Attending school carries a higher risk of transmission than a stroll through the supermarket,'' the editorial said. ''Students and teachers are close together for hours each weekday. And though children are generally less likely to get seriously ill if infected, they can still pass infections picked up at school to vulnerable people at home and in their communities.''
The piece said that the rate of vaccination for California's elementary school aged children is ''extremely low'' at 28%, making a no masks for vaccinated students' policy ineffective.
The editorial also said that parents may not feel as safe sending their kids to school if the mask mandate is lifted, and those parents rely on the schools for childcare and nutritional meals as well as education.
''If masking keeps schools open, it certainly should be continued,'' the editorial read. ''As we've noted before, kids are now used to wearing masks and seldom complain.''
According to the Mayo Clinic, children represent about 18% of all COVID cases in the United States, and while they are ''as likely'' as adults to catch the disease, they are less likely to become severely ill unless they have comorbidities like obesity, diabetes, asthma, heart disease, or other medical issues.
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