LA County public health officials are reportedly directing local schools to require students to wear N95 or KN95 face masks both indoors and outdoors to ward off Omicron - the most mild COVID variant yet.
Even as liberal pundits like MSNBC’s Chris Hayes admit Omicron is more akin to the common flu than a disease that poses a grave threat to the general public, the LA County Department of Public Health is apparently now advising schools to no longer allow students to wear cloth masks as an acceptable form of face protection, saying students must now wear heavy KN95, or “surgical grade” masks both indoors and outdoors except when eating.
Screenshots of an email reportedly sent by LA County Public Schools to local parents are circulating online, saying the mask upgrades are part of a list of “potential” and "more restrictive" changes to the school district’s current COVID policies that will be “published within the next few days.” The new guidance follows nearly two years of requiring students to wear masks - the vast majority of them cloth masks purchased at a drug store - that the health department is now tacitly admitting don't work well enough to stop the spread of COVID.
At the same time, the FDA states on is website that n95 masks are "single-use" masks and “are not designed for children or people with facial hair. Because a proper fit cannot be achieved on children and people with facial hair, the N95 respirator may not provide full protection.”
Meanwhile, COVID continues to pose little to no threat of severe illness, hospitalization or death to the vast majority of children, while omicron continues to be described by health experts as “mild.”