On Saturday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” Fox News Medical Contributor and Clinical Professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine Dr. Marc Siegel argued that masks have played a role in decreasing the risk of coronavirus spread between children and said he’s completely in favor of children choosing to wear masks, but “It’s a big danger here to make this mandatory.”
Siegel said, “There’s the issue of the socialization when you have that mask. My 16-year-old confided something in me the other day, he tried — he said taking a test with a mask on is extremely difficult and it interferes with performance. … And then there’s the risk of getting dizzy and having carbon dioxide retention, but — and also the fact that teachers are already vaccinated, most of them and the fact that it’s based on how much virus is in the area. We’re talking about many areas where there’s no virus around at all. And, most importantly, the risk of spread of COVID-19 from kid to kid has been found to be less than 1%. I think masks play a role in that. But, again, what’s the cost? And that has to be considered.”
He added, “The point is that the kids don’t even wear them properly. That’s the biggest thing of all. … So, it’s not even doing anything. And the revolt should be exactly that, where’s your evidence? Where’s your evidence that it’s actually decreasing spread? Because we know that kids are not big spreaders. We know that they’re not having superspreader events in schools. We know that when we kept them out of schools, they were more likely to spread it. And, again, the psychological harm. So, I think that that’s the revolt. It’s a big danger here to make this mandatory. It should not be. I’m all for kids saying hey, I want to wear a mask. Go ahead. Or if a kid is immunocompromised or has a chronic condition, that should be a consideration. But it’s the mandate that’s the problem.”
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