NIH director tells parents to wear masks while at home with unvaccinated children
Thomas McDonald
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The National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins appeared on CNN Tuesday and advised the parents of unvaccinated children to wear masks while inside their own homes.
“It’s clear that this variant is capable of causing serious illness in children…That’s the reason why the recommendations are for kids under 12 that they avoid being in places where they might get infected, which means recommendations of mask-wearing at schools and at home,” Collins said.
“Parents of unvaccinated kids should be thoughtful about this, and the recommendation is to wear masks there as well. I know that’s uncomfortable, and I know that seems weird, but it is the best way to protect your kids,” he added.
Collins’s recommendations for children to wear masks while at school and at home and for parents to wear masks while at home with their children comes after a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last month found that children should not be forced to wear face masks due to them causing unhealthy levels of carbon dioxide.
The study found that carbon dioxide levels in children wearing masks for three minutes averaged between 13,120 and 13,910 parts per million or about six times the acceptable amount of carbon dioxide exposure. It also found that carbon dioxide levels increased the younger the child. The average levels for 7-year-olds were 25,000 parts per million.
RELATED: Study finds unhealthy levels of carbon dioxide in kids wearing face masks
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that he is banning mask mandates for children in Florida’s public schools.
“The federal government has no right to tell parents that in order for their kids to attend school in person, they must be forced to wear a mask all day, every day,” DeSantis said in a press release Friday. “Many Florida schoolchildren have suffered under forced masking policies, and it is prudent to protect the ability of parents to make decisions regarding the wearing of masks by their children.”
RELATED: DeSantis bans masks in public schools: ‘Federal government has no right’
DeSantis added that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guidelines for schoolchildren to wear masks “lack scientific justification.”
“Recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ‘guidance,’ forcing students to wear masks lacks a well-grounded scientific justification,” DeSantis’ executive order states. “A Brown University study analyzed COVID-19 data for schools in Florida and found no correlation with mask mandates.”
“Masking children may lead to negative health and social ramifications,” the governor’s order alleges. “Forcing children to wear masks could inhibit breathing, lead to the collection of dangerous impurities including bacteria, parasites, fungi, and other contaminants.”