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Posted on 11/19/2020 9:40:57 AM PST by lightman
The Pennsylvania athletics community was taken aback when a new mask order from the state Department of Health said that masks must be worn during competition.
The order said that if athletes, coaches and spectators are indoors, a mask has to be worn at all times. If they are outdoors, they must maintain “sustained physical distance from persons outside of their household.”
For now, the message from the PIAA is to abide by the new mask order as it works to receive clarification, following Wednesday’s PIAA Board of Directors meeting. In the meantime, schools should contact their local solicitors to find out if there are any possible exceptions for teams or student-athletes.
The mask order will not only be in effect for the winter sports, but will impact those student-athletes participating in fall sports championships this weekend and next “if the schools decide so,” PIAA Executive Director Dr. Robert Lombardi said.
The Sports Medicine Advisory Committee is “very concerned,” Lombardi said, because of pre-existing exercise-induced asthma conditions, issues with proper oxygenation, possible retainment of carbon-dioxide and concerns that the mask could fall off and become a slipping hazard on an indoor basketball court.
Dr. Matthew Silvis, a sports medicine specialist with Penn State Health and a member of SMAC, said in an emailed statement that there are risks with wearing a mask during competition.
“Athletes engaging in high-intensity sporting activities, i.e. running, may not be able to wear a mask if it causes difficulty breathing. This issue has been recognized by the CDC,” Silvis said.
In an interview with PennLive prior to the mask mandate from the state, Dr. Patrick Mularoni, medical director of sports medicine at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, said that mask-wearing in sports is a “very controversial topic” and that organizations across the country have given varying responses to whether they should be worn during competition.
Mularoni said that “absolutely” masks should be worn when an athlete is not competing and that coaches should be wearing masks, but that it can be difficult for athletes during competition.
“Athletes should have the right to wear masks, although having the mask on may impede airflow and make the participation in the sport much more difficult,” Mularoni said. “Not necessarily dangerous, but more difficult.”
Lombardi said that there are exceptions to the state’s mask order that schools can examine. He cited section 3A in the face coverings order that states that one exception comes “if wearing a face covering while working would create an unsafe condition in which to operate equipment or execute a task as determined by local, state or federal regulators or workplace safety guidelines.”
Section 3B could also come into effect as it states “if a face covering would either cause a medical condition, or exacerbate an existing one, including respiratory issues that impede breathing, a mental health condition or a disability.”
Lombardi said: “We could see individual kids maybe even on a team some students maybe wearing them, some maybe not. But the board felt this assessment should be done by each individual school because they have not only their own health and safety plans, but they know the conditions of their students by the virtue of their completion of the CIPPE form for them to play athletics, so with their medical team at the local school could not only make team, but also individual athlete assessments.”
Pennsylvania Ping!
Please ping me with articles of interest.
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Maybe the Administration needs a bunch of Hooked on Phonics games in order to understand the REAL SCIENCE behind wearing a mask for a VIRUS!!
Largest randomized controlled trial of masks fails to show a significant difference in infection rates
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3907296/posts
It’s all about the “Social Science” of OBEDIENCE, not the genuine science of virology.
And I am one of those wierd people that truly does not understand taking a position and arguing for or against it based on feelings and emotions.
WE ARE DOOMED!!
The absolute stupidity surrounding high school athletics and the virus is amazing.
Here in WV early in the season, to avoid transmission by contact, rather than have the teams shake hands after a football game, the officials had the teams line up on the hash marks and wave to each other.....
AFTER having played an entire game!
The “deep state” rebellion. Now the little dictators have tasted absolute power they will never give it up.
The ChiComs must be LAO every time they read stories like this.
I actually saw a Texas high school team practicing the first of their two-a-days with full gear and it was 101 degrees.
If my son was attending that school and went thru that practice and suffered a lack of oxygen issue, I would sue the $#!+ out of that school system.
So much irrational thinking. A mom told me that here soccer games were allowed, but no overtime because of covid. In a nearby state they are allowed to wrestle, but not shake hands.
When faced with irrational governance, the best idea is to simply ignore it.
(By “irrational governance” I mean Tom Wolf; by “it” I mean Levine.
When faced with irrational governance, the best idea is to simply ignore it.
(By “irrational governance” I mean Tom Wolf; by “it” I mean Levine.
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