New Mexico's mask requirements for the upcoming school year have ignited protests throughout the state.
Parents of the New Mexico Freedoms Alliance are countering the mask guidelines stating that they will not alleviate the situation, but rather segregate vaccinated and non-vaccinated students, Las Cruces Sun News reported.
The group staged protests in 15 counties throughout the state to voice their displeasure.
Approximately 150 gathered at an event at Vista Del Norte Park in Albuquerque on July 31 to speak out against the new policies, according to The Conservative New Mexican.
“They’re always talking about doing things for the people’s good,” said Ted Trujillo, a life-long New Mexican and recent great-grandfather said, “but several studies have shown that masks don’t do any good.”
At the end of last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidelines stating that even if you’re vaccinated, you should wear masks indoors in regions that have high coronavirus infection rates.
In fact, a CDC map shows14 out of 33 New Mexico counties displayed alarming transmission data for the week of July 19-25 and the rate of infection ignited the current federal recommendation to mask up regardless of vaccination status.
When the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) released its updated school return policy last month they said that middle school and high school students will not be required to wear masks at school if they can prove they are inoculated, according to KRQE.
The report added that masks will be required for elementary schools regardless of vaccination status and will leave policing of the rules up to individual school districts.
A Brigham Young University article found that over 115 scientific studies on COVID-19 conducted by independent researchers observed that wearing masks reduced the spread of COVID-19 for both healthcare workers and the public.
According to The BMJ, a number of study authors have justified not wearing masks by claiming there is limited evidence that masks are effective. However this can be challenged on the grounds that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
The authors also argue that trials have shown that people are unlikely to wear masks properly, and have shown that wearing a mask might make people feel “too” safe, which in turn makes them disregard other important public health advice, The BMJ reports. While those arguments were internally valid in the trials that produced them, there isn’t evidence that they are externally valid in the context of COVID-19.
