TRENTON – Gov. Phil Murphy announced that all schools will be back to wearing masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus in September.
During one of his press conferences about COVID-19, he said a number of factors have led to that decision. First, the fact that children younger than 12 can not get the vaccine. Second, that too many older kids and adults haven’t been vaccinated either. And third, that other schools that opened already in other states have seen “rampant” spread of the disease.
“All students, staff, and visitors will be required to wear masks regardless of vaccination status,” he said.
However, schools will continue to be full time in person. He said that there was too much of a loss over the last year with kids being home, without being able to learn from a teacher in the same room.
Without the mask mandate, the numbers would go up and schools might have to shut down, he said. Therefore, masking was the better option.
“Anyone telling you we can safely re-open schools without wearing masks is simply lying to you,” he said, addressing the misinformation and political campaigns that are spreading falsehoods.
“This is not permanent,” he said. Hopefully, numbers will become safe enough to show that restrictions can be eased without causing a rollback.
He made it a point to note that kids can take off masks if they have a disability that would make it difficult, if they are engaging in strenuous physical exercise in gym, or if the rooms are not air conditioned and they get very hot.
The Delta variant, which has been making the rounds, has proven to be more contagious than the normal strain of the virus, medical professionals agree.
Of the people in the last week who were admitted to the hospital for COVID-19, 80% were unvaccinated, he said. Of the people who died from COVID-19 in the last week, 100% of them were unvaccinated.
“Anyone willfully ignoring this is putting themselves and their communities in danger,” he said.
One of the guest speakers at the press conference was Dr. Jeanne Craft, president of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. She said that even though children are less affected by the virus, it doesn’t mean they are unaffected by it.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, New Jersey lost seven children to the virus. “That number might seem small but it means seven families that won’t see their child grow up.”
