HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania's governor wants a statewide requirement that students in classrooms wear masks as protection against the coronavirus.
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf wrote in a letter Wednesday to legislative leaders that lawmakers should be called back to Harrisburg immediately to work on a bill to order schools and child care facilities to require masks in classrooms.
Wolf says concerned parents, pediatricians, teachers and others have been urging state officials for such a mandate.
"They report that their school districts are either refusing to implement them because of political pressure or false claims about their efficacy," Governor Wolf wrote in the letter.
A spokesman for the House GOP caucus says its members are opposed to voting on a statewide mask mandate. Republican lawmakers strongly believe mask mandates should be a decision for local school boards – based on what parents and students want. They said an early return to the Capitol is unlikely.
"I don’t foresee at least the House coming back until September 27," said State Representative Seth Grove, who represents parts of York County. "I think we will be dealing with COVID-type policies when we get back into session, but I do not foresee votes being there to do mask mandates at all."
Earlier this month, the Wolf Administration said there were no plans to mandate masks in schools. However, a sharp rise in cases and hospitalizations at the start of a new school year reinforced the need for masks.
"Masks are controversial politically, but from an infection control perspective, they are not the least bit controversial," said Dr. John Goldman, infectious disease specialist at UPMC.
Dr. Goldman said masks are proven to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Though most infected children do not get as sick as adults, he said they play a huge role in transmission of the virus.
"Children are thought to be able to transmit the virus. In other viral instances, like the flu for example, they’re often a driver of pandemics," Dr. Goldman said. "So the fear is that kids will get it in school, bring it home to their parents, or worse yet, to their elderly grandparents."
Out of the 474 school districts that submitted health and safety plans to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, only 59 have implemented mandatory masking policies.
You can read the full letter from Gov. Wolf below: