KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Medical Society is the latest group to urge mandatory masking in school classrooms, calling the COVID-19 delta variant a “game changer with unknown long-term effects on our children.”
KC Medical Society President Scott Kujath said in a letter dated Aug. 2 that the society aligns with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics, or AAP, that in-person learning is preferable.
However, he returning to the classroom would “be vastly undermined” if COVID-19 outbreaks force closures or disruptions throughout the academic year.
“Despite all of our recent progress in fighting this pandemic, the rapidly rising cases in KC metro area now show a disappointing regression back to where we were nearly eight months ago, with daily new cases in the (approximately) 200 range,” Kujath wrote.
The KC Medical Society, according to the letter, supports the AAP's recommendation of universal masking, regardless of vaccination status, citing increasing rates of hospitalizations for children and adults that are directly and indirectly connected to COVID-19.
