McKee’s Campaign Stumbles on School Masking Facts

McKee’s Campaign Stumbles on School Masking Facts

After Nellie Gorbea’s campaign criticized Governor Dan McKee for failing to require masks in Rhode Island Schools, the McKee campaign through spokesman Mike Trainor responded with a statement claiming, “While we understand Secretary Gorbea’s political need for relevance around this issue, the simple truth is that she does not have access to the national and local reservoir of data and medical/science resources that the McKee administration has had as it continues to monitor this particular issue. It is unfortunate that she is choosing to politicize an issue as important as this.”

But, it may be McKee’s campaign that stumbled on this one.

The Biden Administration through U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance six days ago for schools that states, “Due to the circulating and highly contagious Delta variant, CDC recommends universal indoor masking by all students (age 2 and older), staff, teachers, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.”

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Last week Dr. Anthony Fauci called for masking in schools.

Locally, former Rhode Island Director of Health Dr. Michael Fine urged McKee more than two weeks ago to require masks.

 

Children -- and Campaigns -- in Focus

In the past six weeks, the number of infections of children in Rhode Island has increased from 30 to nearly 200 per week. And, overall hospitalizations have begun to spike — increasing more than 300% in the past three weeks.

GoLocal asked the McKee campaign what was “national and local reservoir of data and medical/ science resources” that McKee was depending on that did not believe masks needed to be mandated. 

The McKee campaign could not provide the name of any experts or provide any data.

McKee’s campaign said that the CDC’s guidance was not a mandate, not understanding that the CDC issues recommendation to states. This is not the first time McKee has ignored guidance from the CDC. 

“The only point I am making here is that Gorbea is calling for mandated masking and that is not national or local policy at present. The Governor is monitoring the situation but has not called for mandating,” said Trainor.

Last week in Massachusetts, Senate President Karen Spilka formally called on Republican Governor Charlie Baker to require universal masking in schools.

“Public health experts and the American Academy of Pediatrics agree that universal masking in schools is an effective way to keep our vulnerable children and residents safe as we continue to fight this global pandemic. Parents, school staff, and students seek clear, consistent direction as the school year starts, and they deserve to get it from the state,” Spilka said in a statement.

“No one wants to go back to the dark early days of this public health crisis, and so we must do everything possible to keep people safe and our economy stable," she added. "Wearing a mask around vulnerable populations, including unvaccinated children and others, is a small and simple action we can take to do this.”