Despite CMO’s hesitation, Cabinet makes mask-wearing optional; but school staff, not students, are required to mask-up

It is official: The wearing of face masks is now optional, according to Cabinet, and the policy comes into effect next Wednesday, March 16.

During its weekly sitting, the Executive reportedly agreed that the regulations governing face masks should be repealed, allowing residents to make their own decision on whether to wear them.

At a press conference held earlier this week, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Rhonda Sealey-Thomas said she still has to consider the experts’ opinions before issuing definitive recommendations on the matter.

In the interim, however, she and her team have proposed that face masks be worn by persons working indoors and in churches, civic groups, schools, bars, clubs – wherever they come into contact with others with whom they are not familiar.

Wherever there are likely to be crowds of people, then masks are “dutifully encouraged,” she said.

Meanwhile, as all schools are set to return to full face-to-face classes next Monday, March 14, the Cabinet says that students are not required to wear face masks.

However, security personnel, administrators, and those who are likely to have contact with a large number of students and other personnel are required to mask-up, the Cabinet has decided.

Health officials have also recommended that sanitizing and temperature checks be continued in schools, since social distancing cannot be achieved with full face-to-face learning.

“That make sense to you?” a furious father asks REAL News.  He adds that it “is stupidness” to require the adult staff to be masked while the hundreds of students on a school compound are not. 

He notes that children, too, can contract and spread the COVID-19 virus.  Therefore, his primary-aged son will not be attending school without a mask, he declares.