Keep up the good fight in Idaho schools, stick with mask mandates through holidays

The holidays are upon us. It’s a time for family and friends to come together, young and old alike, grandparents and parents, children and grandchildren. It’s a time for traveling to other parts of the state and across the country, going through airports, eating out, going shopping and generally just coming into contact with a lot of random people.

With just a couple of weeks left before Thanksgiving break and then a few more weeks after that to make it to winter break, we urge school districts in Idaho to hold on just a little bit longer and maintain their mask mandates for students and staff.

Unfortunately, Caldwell School District board members voted Monday to remove its mask requirement and instead change the policy to “recommend” masks in school buildings.

We understand and appreciate the temptation to get rid of masks.

Cases of COVID-19 are dropping. Hospitalizations are dropping. Positivity rates are dropping.

These are all good signs.

But let’s not declare victory quite yet.

Even though COVID-19 cases are dropping, our seven-day average moving incidence rate of new cases daily is still 30.2 cases per 100,000 people, considered beyond a tipping point for community spread.

Even though our hospitals have seen a reduction in cases and deaths, Idaho still had around 400 patients hospitalized with suspected or confirmed cases, and 125 in the ICU, as of Monday. In all, 136 Idaho deaths were reported last week related to COVID-19. That’s still way too many preventable deaths.

The positivity rate is still 10.3% statewide, nowhere near the 5% threshold we need.

The delta and kappa strains of the coronavirus are showing signs of getting around vaccine immunity, and the rate of person-to-person infection for delta is proving to be higher than earlier variants.

In other words, we are not out of the woods — especially in a state with a low vaccination rate.

Idaho is sitting at 56% vaccination rate for those 12 and older. That’s about 842,000 people. That means there are still 1 million Idahoans who are unvaccinated. That’s too many people to bring this thing under control — and we can bring this under control through vaccination.

It’s good news, yes, that children 5-11 can now get the vaccine, and we’ve seen a rush of youngsters getting the shot. But keep in mind, it takes five weeks to become fully vaccinated, including the three weeks between shots. Even if a child gets the vaccine today, full immunity won’t be complete until well into December. And we already know there’s high vaccine hesitancy in Idaho.

Tough decision for school boards

We understand the difficult position school board members find themselves in, and we can see why they feel pressure to get rid of mask mandates.

No one likes to wear them. No one. And no one likes a “mandate.”

We understand that many people are confused by competing information, evolving information and, unfortunately, purveyors of false information about masks and the vaccine.

But the bottom line is that masks do work, and the vaccines are safe and highly effective. They don’t alter your DNA. They don’t contain some government tracking device. They don’t make you magnetic.

Do breakthrough cases exist? Yes. Of the fully vaccinated Idahoans, that rate is about 1.87%. It’s undeniable that vaccination means you are far less likely to get the virus — and you can’t spread what you don’t have — and far less likely to need hospital care.

We need to keep beating this drum, if for no other reason than to combat the false information that’s out there.

Unfortunately, we learned just this week of an infant dying of COVID. Can we prevent every single death? Of course not. But some deaths are preventable. We prevented an untold number of deaths from polio with a safe and effective vaccine. We can prevent future COVID-19 deaths now with a safe and effective vaccine — and by wearing masks.

Schools have much to celebrate with low case counts. Masks are working. This is no time to reverse course.

If you reduce the speed limit on a dangerous stretch of highway to reduce fatal car accidents, and fatal accidents start to drop, you don’t turn around and raise the speed limit again.

Our students have been doing just fine wearing their masks. They’ll be fine for another few weeks.

Let’s get through the holidays and see where cases are in January.

If things look good, sure, let’s get rid of the mask mandates after the winter break, but for now, let’s just hold on for just a little bit longer.