DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — Dayton Children’s is recommending that universal masking be implemented at schools in order to protect children that can’t yet be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The hospital said in a statement that COVID-19 test rates have increased by 160 percent in children at Dayton Children’s in just the past two weeks.
“In-person, full-time learning is the best option for our children,” says Deborah Feldman, president and CEO of Dayton Children’s. “We saw the struggle for kids dealing with remote learning and a lack of interaction with their peers in our behavioral health services. We heard the anxiety and the frustration as parents juggled at-home school and work. We saw the increased gaps for children with disabilities and those from disadvantaged homes.”
According to the hospital, by wearing a mask in the classroom, schools can reduce the chances of students needing to quarantine. This means fewer children will have their educational routines interrupted.
“Children’s hospitals are carefully monitoring the impact of the Delta variant and its impact on kids and the increasing number of other respiratory conditions causing an increase in census in our hospitals,” says Nick Lashutka, president and CEO, Ohio Children’s Hospital Association. “Last year at this time, children were not experiencing COVID-19 at the rate or intensity that we are seeing now. While we are not yet seeing the COVID-19 levels in children that other states are experiencing, we are beginning to experience an increase in both numbers and severity.”
For more information from Dayton Children’s, click here.
