Free Republic

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention data from the new K-12 school year bolster the agency’s recommendation for masks in schools and in-person classes. One study in two Arizona counties found coronavirus outbreaks were almost four times more common at public schools without mask mandates on the first day than at those that re-opened with a masking requirement. Another study found case rates in children and teens increased more in U.S. counties where public schools had no mask mandates than in those where schools had that requirement. These studies lacked data on other measures that could have influenced the...

It cannot be easy to lead the agency that handles infectious diseases in the midst of an international pandemic. Still, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should at least be able to prove she is up to the task. Dr. Rochelle Walensky has repeatedly proved herself unfit and unreliable. She needs to go. Perhaps her worst failure, however, was her wishy-washy approach to school reopenings. Walensky switched her position on whether social distancing in the classroom was necessary, not once, not twice, but three times. First, she said that three feet of social distancing would be...

As officials in Texas and Mississippi lifted statewide mask mandates, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offered fresh evidence of the importance of mask use in a new study on Friday. Wearing masks, the study reported, was linked to fewer infections with the coronavirus and Covid-19 deaths in counties across the United States The researchers also found that counties opening restaurants for on-premises dining — indoors or outdoors — saw a rise in daily infections about six weeks later, and an increase in Covid-19 death rates about two months later The study does not prove cause and...