Minister & Parents Group On Meeting/Masks
Members of the Us For Them group held a meeting with Health Minister Kim Wilson and health officials, with the Us For Them group calling the meeting “completely fruitless” and added “we feel it is quite clear they are not willing to meaningfully address our concerns,” while the Minister said they “appreciate their specific mask-wearing concerns” and added “mask-wearing has been advised as a safety measure for children in school and child care settings and the general community.”
Us For Them Bermuda Statement
A spokesperson said, “Us For Them Bermuda was given a meeting with the Minister of Health, Kim Wilson and three other health officials yesterday at noon. The meeting time was set late on Tuesday afternoon by the Minister’s office.
“None of the research and data behind the all-day masking policy on school children was provided to our group, although we were previously told it was being compiled for us.
“The meeting lasted 20 minutes and was completely fruitless.
“The Minister would not disclose any targets or metrics the Island might meet in order to lessen restrictions on school children, which include: wearing all mask all days while indoors from age 4 up, no singing, no assemblies, single class bubbles, no cooperative play, parallel play only, no woodwind or brass instruments, no sports days, intramural or inter-school sports, no graduation ceremonies, no field trips or excursions, no school photographs, no extra-curricular activities, no birthday parties and no end of year events.
“When asked for the data which the Health Ministry is using to set policy, we were told it would be provided later.
“Our attempts to engage with the Government have been extremely frustrating and we feel it is quite clear they are not willing to meaningfully address our concerns.
“We feel we have explored all channels for dialogue with the decision makers, whose rules are affecting our children daily, and we are extremely disappointed to conclude they are not open to meaningful engagement.
“While we welcome further discussions, we remain determined to protect the rights of our children and to prevent them from being harmed, and will consider all avenues to do so including civil protests and exploring legal options.
“As parents, we would like to see more adults rally to support the children of Bermuda. We have been saddened and surprised that our paediatricians, doctors, teachers, school administrators and children-centric groups have yet to speak up for the children we entrust to them.
“The restrictions on children could be much more proportionate to what we know about the virus today. We hope more adults will step up as advocates for children.”
Minister Kim Wilson’s Statement
The Government noted that Minister of Health, Kim Wilson, accompanied by the Chief Medical Officer Dr Ayoola Oyinloye, the Permanent Secretary for Health Ms Shivon Washington, and Nurse Epidemiologist with the Ministry of Health Ms Jennifer Wilson, met with the Us For Them Bermuda group.
Minister Wilson said, “We were happy to meet with Us For Them Bermuda and appreciate their specific mask-wearing concerns and those shared by all parents in our community.
“The Ministry of Health recognizes that no single intervention is perfect at preventing the spread of Covid-19. Mask wearing is one layer among multiple layers of interventions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. With this in mind, mask-wearing has been advised as a safety measure for children in school and child care settings and the general community.
“The evidence is clear that the Omicron variant is currently disproportionately affecting children. Our data does support that children are at risk for getting and transmitting Covid-19. We have records of 69 outbreaks [2 or more linked cases] in Bermuda’s Schools since 1st December 2021.
“Additionally, there were ten outbreaks in the Daycare settings in the same time period. Emergency room visits in children are also multiples of what was seen in previous waves. There are several examples of transmission of SARS-COV2 virus from cases acquired in schools to household members.
“The comprehensive research and data behind the indoor masking policy on school children is still being compiled and will be shared publicly when our report is completed. This is continually modified to reflect Bermuda’s outbreak circumstances and the health and safety of our community.”
You can find more information on the links below from our dedicated website BermudaCovid.com, which is the most comprehensive resource and historic record available of Bermuda’s handling of the pandemic.
- All Charts: Vaccine, testing & more here
- Timelines: Dates of major developments here
- Test results: Chart of testing stats here
- Vaccine: Data covering vaccinations here
- Dedicated website: BermudaCovid.com
what about gangs, education, anti-social behavior, teenage depression, suicide, career development etc?
are these people really concerned about the children or are they solely focused on this one?
There are no credible randomised cluster trials that show that masking schoolchildren prevents the spread of covid. We are in the third year of the pandemic, and the evidence does not exist.
What we do know, however is that masking children in school has obvious harmful effects on their ability to concentrate, communicate, and learn.
We also know that, for children particularly, omicron causes very mild symptoms.
The masking of children in schools should never have happened.
You keep saying this, and it’s still bullsh*t.
Simple internet searching will reveal a plethora of studies to the contrary.
The restrictions on children in schools goes way beyond masks. The restrictions are greatly affecting their mental wellbeing and even their physical health, especially with restricted play areas, no sports days etc. As restrictions are lessening everywhere else, the children are still under very onerous restrictions that will have long-term ramifications. There is data coming out of the physical education tests that children’s fitness and health has declined as a result of these restrictions on play and activity- this will be very bad for everyone long term. Parents need to speak up! Can this group please provide contact information so that parents can join and so that PTSA groups can discuss? Our children need us to be their advocates! The sentence below is particularly concerning!
The Minister would not disclose any targets or metrics the Island might meet in order to lessen restrictions on school children, which include: wearing all mask all days while indoors from age 4 up, no singing, no assemblies, single class bubbles, no cooperative play, parallel play only, no woodwind or brass instruments, no sports days, intramural or inter-school sports, no graduation ceremonies, no field trips or excursions, no school photographs, no extra-curricular activities, no birthday parties and no end of year events.
Masks DO limit the spread of COVID-19. There is plenty of evidence confirming that.
I note you use of the phrase “credible randomised cluster trials”, suggesting that you will only accept tests that meet your criteria, not that of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the National Health Service or Health Canada
He/she saw that in some email, and has been using it ever since
They are causing irreversible damage to the children that will affect them for the rest of their lives.
No. They are not. Grow up.
So the Minister’s response to a parents group asking for evidence on their masking policy, is to make again a number of unsubstantiated statements and admit they have no data or research and have to gather it?
“The evidence is clear that the Omicron variant is currently disproportionately affecting children.” Is it? Is this in any way true? What do the parents of kids testing positive say?
69 incidences of TWO or more kids testing positive over 14 months ACROSS all Bermuda’s schools. Is this a crisis?
‘Multiples’ of children needing to go to the Emergency while testing positive? Multiples? Is this 0 multiplied up to 1? 2 kids multiplied up to 4? Who knows? Not this Minister.
The hospital has not been overwhelmed during ANY of the surges we have had….it is a tired talking point of the COVID group
The Pandemic is now a Pandemic of the Politicians.
Look at Britain, they relaxed all restrictions because Boris got caught having parties. He came to the right decision, but for all the wrong reasons.
The US Administration is now saying “The Science Has Changed” and are now saying restrictions should be removed because they know they are about to be SLAUGHTERED in the mid terms and are desperate to salvage some sort of political support.
Canada has stepped up and said “Enough is Enough” and despite efforts by the government to take gas from the truckers etc the courts are siding with the protestors and have ordered the police to return it.
The tide is turning and history will judge the actions of the politicians who are holding on to COVID as a means of holding on to political power badly.
The moon landings were faked too.
What exactly do you think the masking of children is for?
It’s not for their safety – it’s a trivial disease for them.
It’s not to enhance their school experience, we all know that.
It’s not to protect the hospital – there are very few cases of omicron serious enough to need hospitalization.
It’s not to protect parents – they all have been triple jabbed, if they wanted it. With the ‘safe and effective’ vaccines.
So why do it? Particularly when there is no evidence that masking in schools stops covid from spreading.
Airborne disease. I refer you to previous comments.
Ask me if I think mask mandates should be dropped now? Different question entirely.
If you’ve changed your mind and now don’t now agree with mask mandates, just say so. That’s what this article is about.
Here’s the reality. It appears that in Bermuda at least, we might be on the backside of this thing and that relaxation of some rules such as SafeKey, TA’s, mask mandates etc could be argued.
A quick look on the internet today from news sources around the world, suggests that many places are not on the backside of COVID and, to the contrary, are seeing an explosion of cases, severe illness and death.
However, when you say or argue that “it’s just like a common cold”, or “it’s no worse than flu” or that “masks don’t do anything to prevent spread of COVID”, then you are very stupid, dangerously misleading and you devalue your argument. You might as well say the whole thing is a conspiracy.
I never said “it’s just like a common cold”. You made that up.
In its Omicron variant, it is about as dangerous as a bad flu. In fact, in the UK for example, excess deaths have this year run at about 10% lower than usual for this time of year, because Omicron is causing fewer deaths than the usual winter respiratory viruses.
Safekey, etc, would have a place if vaccines prevented infection. They don’t, so Safekey essentially does nothing to protect people.
Masks. The fact is, there are no studies that credibly show that wearing masks prevent covid spread. If you can find them, list them.
DANMASK study = no benefit
Bangladesh= the cluster trial that I “heard about in a email” according to you = no benefit.
UK government study in children, in schools = no benefit.
And that’s where we are. You can call people stupid conspiracy theorists because you’re safely sitting behind a keyboard. The fact is, a lot of the time, you really don’t know what you’re talking about.
You’ve never had bad flu have you? It’s debilitating and deadly. Which is why this line of reasoning is laughable.
Endless studies available online point to mask wearing as decreasing likelihood of transmission via airborne particles. I really don’t have the time to endlessly point that out.
Vaccines reduce the likelihood of getting infected, and reduce the chance of serious illness if you are infected. Again, plenty of resources available talking to that very point.
If you go around saying that masks don’t do anything, then I will continue to treat your argument with contempt. You are grouped with those that say it’s like a common cold.
Should we still insist on masks in Bermuda schools at this point? Probably not on balance, but I would not have argued that point 12 months ago.
See, it’s an evolving landscape. But you know this already.
Yes, I’ve had flu. Omicron is no worse. That’s the point.
There are not ‘endless studies’ showing that masks prevent the spread of covid. List a few, if you have them. I’m happy to look at them. I listed three.
Vaccines do not prevent infection. In fact, the UK HSA statistics indicate greater infection rates among vaccinated than unvaccinated, worryingly.
I know it’s an evolving landscape, and I may not have made the same arguments a year ago either. We have what we have : omicron, which easily evades vaccines, is not usually severe, and is spread regardless of masks mandates.
You say the following -
“As parents, we would like to see more adults rally to support the children of Bermuda. We have been saddened and surprised that our paediatricians, doctors, teachers, school administrators and children-centric groups have yet to speak up for the children we entrust to them.
As if you think that everyone agrees with you. Well it appears that not many agree with you and they are the ones that want to keep their children safe.
I wish they would put as much attention to education, then masking these kids. 30-6.
The phasing makes no sense to me whatsoever. How is the whole island opened up and living with what little covid we have, while the schools are on the highest alert level.
The “swiss cheese” analogy is nonsense.
There is something more going on here. Is the teacher’s union pushing for masking kids? That would add-up given the timing of the move to phase 1 and the disaster with school reopening.
I could have told them they are waisting their time dealing with these tyrants.
Bermuda will be last to get rid of the masks. Somehow the rest of the world has access to data we dont have…interesting. Absolute filth.