Boulder County residents can take off their masks on Friday for all indoor settings, even in schools and childcare settings.
The Boulder County Board of Health Monday night ordered the unmasking of residents after studying recommendations from the county health staff and hearing impassioned pleas from parents and residents, many of whom said masking of young children is leading to emotional and learning problems.
At least 73 people signed up to speak to the board Monday night and the board received over 250 emailed comments, nearly all were against mask mandates, said board chair Gregg Thomas.
“Healthy children should not be masked at all,” Anne Greene told the board. “Masking children causes real harm.”
Derek Harner, a student at Erie Elementary School, told board members they should drop the mask mandate for students as soon as possible. “We can’t breathe in our masks,” Harner said. “Why not drop them today instead of in two weeks?”
Staff members recommended extending the mask order for K-12 students and younger to Feb. 25. Staff members also recommended the mask order stay in place for kids ages 5 and younger in day care and early childhood education centers until the next board meeting.
But board members voted to lift all restrictions on Friday, noting stretching the mask mandate for young kids is too risky
“Continuing to mask the 2-to-4 (-year-old) population is a big gamble we are taking,” said board member Brooke Harrison. “I am not willing to vote for that gamble right now.”
Recent COVID-19 data from Boulder County shows that the Omicron variant has peaked and appears to be less severe than previous variants and new cases and positive tests are declining, Boulder County Public Health Director Camille Rodriguez told the board. She added 73 percent of the county’s residents are up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations and children over the age of 5 can easily access free, safe and highly effective vaccines, she said in a news release.
Neighboring counties — including Broomfield and Denver — have also dropped their mask mandates, making it tougher on county families and businesses, she said. “These changes in neighboring counties create new stresses in our community, including competitive disadvantages in our businesses,” Rodriguez said.
COVID-19, she added, is likely something residents will have to learn to live with. “COVID will be with us for the foreseeable future,” Rodriguez said.
Boulder County is now turning to a long term strategy to limit the spread of COVID-19 and communities are being asked to take their own measures to contain the virus. “There are tools in our community to be less reliant on the actions of others,” she said.
Boulder County Public Health Deputy DIrector Lexi Nolen told the board that COVID-19 cases are falling but are still above 2021 levels, which is keeping a high transmission rate for the county. The virus is continuing to strain to the county’s already over-taxed health care providers, Nolen said.
The county will also continue to see death rates climb for a time and schools will likely see a few more increases and outbreaks, Nolen said. “But we don’t expect that to continue.” she said.
