www.theepochtimes.com
'National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Francis Collins on Tuesday indicated that the push to make America’s youngest students wear masks at school is more due to concerns over potential school closures, rather than based on data of COVID-19’s impact on children’s health.
'Collins weighed in on the debate over mask requirements in American schools during an interview with “The Hugh Hewitt Show.” When asked by host Hugh Hewitt about recent federal recommendations that children in kindergarten through 3rd grade should wear masks, Collins said that although young children getting COVID-19 is rare, unmasked students could cause COVID-19 outbreaks at schools, forcing their peers to return to remote learning.'
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'Hewitt, who was unimpressed with Collins’s use of the word “may,” notes that K–3 students are vulnerable to speech development problems that affect the rest of their lives if they can’t see people’s full faces. He then moved to ask whether there is data showing that kids in grade K-3 “are at greater risk of hospitalization or illness of serious sort from taking their mask off.”
'“I wish we had that data,” Collins replied. “But Hugh, I don’t think you’re hearing me. It’s not just about that.”
'“You’re worried about what goes on. But you just said there’s no data,” said Hewitt. “So you guys are guessing.”'
