FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — The divide over masking in schools continues, despite data showing COVID cases on the rise among Georgia children.
Data from the Georgia Department of Public Health shows children from infancy to age 17 make up an average of 18% of cases in the state. In January, kids made up 11% of cases.
The trend is troubling healthcare professionals statewide, including Dr. Hugo Scornik, the president of the Georgia chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Scornik said it was not too late to reverse the trend of spiking cases. His message: to dispel the myth that COVID is not harmful to kids.
He said thousands of children have ended up in the hospital over the last few weeks, and hundreds of kids have died. This week, a Douglas County teen, who had comorbidities, died after contracting the virus. Two weeks ago, a five-year-old died with COVID complications in Whitfield County.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health experts have recommended anyone over the age of two wear a mask indoors.
But several parents are pushing back on mask mandates. Dozens of protesters gathered outside Milton High School Saturday to voice their opposition to masks being required inside the classroom.
"We’re not against masks," Joe Gonzalez said. "We’re not against vaccines. What we are against is our choices being taken from us.”
Milton is part of Fulton County Schools, which recently mandated masks for all but 15 schools in Johns Creek because of high infection rates.
Nooshin Johnson has kids in the Cobb County School District, which left wearing masks optional in schools. She said Cobb should follow surrounding school districts, including the Douglas County School System, that have put a mask mandate in place.
“We’re not just starting this pandemic," Johnson said. "We have facts and figures that support doing things public health says we can do to curtail things and everyone not get sick. Your choices do not entitle you to put my children or other people’s children at risk. This is not just a personal choice situation. It’s a safety issue.”
Sara Perry, a registered nurse with a child in Cobb County Schools, agreed that masks could help prevent the spread of COVID while kids under 12 aren't eligible for the vaccine.
“If we take no mitigation efforts, meaning mask if you want, don’t mask if you don’t want, means we’re doing very little to prevent a rapid spread," Perry said.
Governor Brian Kemp said individual school districts should decide whether to enact mask mandates.