Arizona doctors urge Governor Ducey to require masks in school
PHOENIX (AP) — More than 150 Arizona doctors on Thursday urged Gov. Doug Ducey to mandate masks in public schools, dialing up pressure as coronavirus cases rise and a growing number of school districts require their staff and students to mask up in defiance of a new state law.
Scientists don’t yet know the long-term effects of the coronavirus on developing brains, the doctors wrote in a letter delivered to Ducey’s office. Ducey this summer signed legislation that bans schools from requiring children to wear masks.
“Your prohibition on mask requirements means no Arizona school can provide a safe learning environment,” the doctors wrote. “Each and every one of our students and their educators deserve better.”
Children generally have milder cases of the disease, but youngsters and teens have been hospitalized. About 2,300 of the nearly 68,000 people who have been admitted to an Arizona hospital with COVID-19 were under the age of 20, according to state data.
Coronavirus infections have increased markedly in Arizona as the highly contagious delta variant spreads. On Thursday, the state reported just under 2,300 new confirmed cases and 11 more deaths. Hospitalizations for the virus increased slightly to 1,266, according to the state’s data dashboard. Last time they were in that range was in late February.
