POLITICO NIGHTLY: Toddlers and masks: And you thought potty training was hard

 

BY RENUKA RAYASAM Presented by CHIN UP — My younger son turns 2 next month, so I will have to start sending him to day care with several masks in his baby-blue dinosaur backpack. When the pandemic first hit, he was a snuggly six-month baby who could barely sit up on his own. Now he’s a rambunctious toddler who managed to knock over our TV stand last night — he is fine. Our flat screen is not. I thought for sure by the time he turned 2, I would be writing about craft projects for all those useless masks lying around the house. Instead, I am replenishing our supply of toddler masks. I just found ones patterned with whales and jellyfish. For him, of course, masks are totally normal. They are another entry into the world of being a big kid — like potty training, though he will learn to wear a mask before he learns to use the toilet. For me, it’s yet another reminder of the pandemic’s seeming endlessness. The CDC is now saying that even vaccinated people have to wear masks indoors because of the risks of the Delta variant. Lambda, another Covid variant first identified in Peru, may be resistant to vaccines. It looks like I may have to shelve those craft plans and instead take advantage of mask sales. And recommit myself to good mask hygiene. So I reached out to Jack O’Horo, an infectious disease specialist at the Mayo Clinic, to ask him all the things we need to know about masking, but are too embarrassed to ask 18 months in. This conversation has been edited. I usually wear a cloth mask to drop my kids off at day care and then shove it in my purse. How often should I be washing it? The ideal answer would be to clean a mask after every wearing, though that’s clearly not practical. The next best thing is every few days. One of the good and bad things about masks is when they really need a wash, they make themselves pretty well-known because we wear them right on our face. We’re forced to do the mask sniff test every time we put it on. If it starts to smell like it should be in the dirty laundry pile, it probably should have been a few days ago. Should I be using an N95 instead? The best kind of mask to use is the one that completely covers the nose and mouth. Overall, what’s more important is how consistently you can wear that mask and if you can wear it the right way. Having a high-grade mask that’s being worn beneath the nose isn’t doing much good. The WHO recommends that children older than 5 wear a mask, while the CDC sticks to 2 and up. Which is more appropriate? The WHO recommendation was more of a surrender to the pragmatic concerns of how difficult it is to mask a 2-, 3- or 4-year-old than it was a statement that risk is really lower in a 4-year-old than a 5-year-old. Risk is lower in kids than adults overall for severe disease and complications. It is again non-zero. In these 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds it is appropriate to try to mask them. But we have to be very cognizant that they will require frequent correction and assistance to wear the masks properly. The consistency is going to be less than ideal, but every layer of protection helps. I am questioning, though, whether the costs of masking toddlers outweighs the risks? I have an almost 3-year-old, and this is something I’m considering myself. One of the things I’m considering is how strict can we be, for how long, without really impeding his opportunity to learn and grow? For the next month I think that the risk-benefit analysis errors towards being very cautious about Covid-19 because of how transmissible this Delta variant is. I think it’s going to be a temporary measure, especially with kids’ vaccines around the corner. If we were looking at another year of masking for this group I would have a very different cost-benefit to go through. One day I was getting out of my car and I had pulled down my mask because I was the only one in the car and coming home. I picked my son up to say hi and he picked my mask up underneath my chin and put it up over my nose. This is what the children of the pandemic are like. My 3-year-old is probably more used to seeing people wear masks properly than some adults are at this point. It’s kind of sad that it’s become something you do if you’re a big boy now. That’s the reality of 2021 and I sincerely hope it won’t be the reality of 2022. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas for us at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at rrayasam@politico.com and on Twitter at @RenuRayasam.   A message from AT&T: Accessible, affordable broadband helps communities reach their American Dream. That’s why AT&T is making a $2 billion, 3-year commitment toward helping close the digital divide, so more low-income families have the ability to succeed. Find out how.   WHAT'D I MISS? — AFT president says union is now ‘looking at vaccine mandates’: The head of the American Federation of Teachers signaled today the powerful union is rethinking its opposition to Covid-19 vaccine mandates for educators . “We’re considering all alternatives, including looking at vaccine mandates,” Randi Weingarten told POLITICO in an interview, a little more than a week after the union president said vaccinations should be negotiated between employers and workers but “not coerced.” — Jan. 6 select panel takes over House probe of Trump DOJ: A key House committee has postponed multiple scheduled witness interviews about Donald Trump’s final days in office, handing them off to the select panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. The movement of those interviews with former Justice Department aides marks an abrupt change in House Democrats’ investigations of the end of Trump’s presidency. The shift underscores the growing importance of the select committee’s work as it readies its next steps with a political spotlight on Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and the panel’s two anti-Trump Republicans, Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois. Residents walk on breakwaters at a typhoon shelter in front of the Hong Kong skyline. | Anthony Kwan/Getty Images — Biden delays removal of Hong Kong residents during China’s crackdown: Biden directed the Department of Homeland Security today to defer for 18 months the removal of certain Hong Kong residents in the United States , citing Beijing’s crackdown on pro-democracy protesters and imposition of a strict national security law in the semi-autonomous Chinese city. In a memorandum to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden reaffirmed U.S. support for “the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the residents of Hong Kong” and said his order was in recognition of “the significant erosion of those rights and freedoms in Hong Kong by the People’s Republic of China.” — Justice watchdog can’t pinpoint FBI leaks prior to 2016 election: A Justice Department watchdog’s probe into leaks from the FBI before the 2016 presidential election failed to pinpoint the sources of any of the disclosures , but found more than 50 people at the bureau had contacts with journalists who reported on pre-election investigations. The new report from Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz concluded that the FBI’s policies limiting contact with the press “appeared to be widely ignored” at that time. — Texas governor calls second special session for GOP’s push to change election laws: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a new special legislative session to begin Aug. 7 at noon, the day after the current special session is set to expire, as Republicans continue their push to enact new election regulations following the 2020 elections. Abbott’s 17-item agenda includes a slate of bills including subjects like critical race theory, bail reform and education legislation that would ensure mask wearing and Covid-19 vaccinations are not mandatory. The main item is elections legislation. — Proposed Senate amendment would block infrastructure-bill grant money from buying Chinese-made drones: A bipartisan Senate duo last night introduced an amendment to the infrastructure bill to block funds for technology purchases from going toward buying Chinese-made drones . Tucked into the $1 trillion bill is the $500 million program, meant to help acquire drones and other technologies to improve the nation’s transportation systems. — Feds open broad probe of Phoenix police: The Justice Department today announced a broad investigation into the Phoenix Police Department , examining whether its police officers use excessive force, conduct “discriminatory policing” and retaliate against members of the public who exercise their First Amendment rights.   A message from AT&T:     ASK THE AUDIENCE COVID COURT IS BACK IN SESSION — With the Delta variant on the loose, Covid cases on the rise, more reports of breakthrough infections and vaccinations stalling, things are as confusing as ever. So Judge Renu is back in session to help answer your questions about navigating this stage of the pandemic. Do you have an unresolved disagreement over Covid risk management with a relative or colleague? Or do you have questions about the virus or vaccine that haven’t been answered? Ask Renu to issue a ruling! Email your pandemic disputes to nightly@politico.com.   STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.     AROUND THE WORLD Belarus athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya waves at the boarding gate for Austrian Airlines 0S52 at Narita International Airport in Tokyo. | Yuichi Yamazaki/Getty Images OLYMPIC SPRINTER FLEES TO POLAND — A Belarusian Olympic sprinter who criticized her coaches at the Tokyo Games said today that she showed police a translated plea for help on her phone as she tried to avoid being put on a plane home, where she feared reprisals from an authoritarian government. Krystsina Tsimanouskaya described a dramatic series of events at the Olympics that led her to flee to Poland, where she arrived Wednesday. After posting a message on social media that criticized the way her team was being managed, Tsimanouskaya said she was told to pack her bags. Team officials told her to say she was injured and had to go home early. On her way to the airport, she spoke briefly to her grandmother, who explained that there was a massive backlash against her in the media back in Belarus, including reports that she was mentally ill. Her grandmother, she said, advised her not to return. At the airport, she sought help from police, translating a plea on her phone and showing it to them. As the drama unfolded, European countries offered to help her, and the runner ended up at the Polish embassy, where she received a humanitarian visa. Many of Belarus’ activists have fled to Poland to avoid a brutal crackdown by President Alexander Lukashenko’s government.   SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST" TODAY: Power is shifting in Washington and in communities across the country. More people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. The Recast is a twice-weekly newsletter that explores the changing power dynamics in Washington and breaks down how race and identity are recasting politics and policy in America. Get fresh insights, scoops and dispatches on this crucial intersection from across the country and hear critical new voices that challenge business as usual. Don't miss out, SUBSCRIBE . Thank you to our sponsor, Intel.     NIGHTLY NUMBER $256 billion The increase in the federal deficit over a 10-year period that will come from the Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure bill, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis released today. PARTING WORDS THE EVICTION CRISIS, EXPLAINED — Why are state and local governments struggling to get rental relief to millions who need it? And how is the federal government contributing to the lack of rental assistance? Financial services reporter Katy O’Donnell dives into the eviction moratorium and the state of housing in the U.S. in the latest POLITICO Explains.   A message from AT&T: Susana Chávez became valedictorian of International High School at Langley Park while juggling numerous jobs throughout school. But what kept her powering through it all was her American Dream. With the help of accessible and affordable broadband, she was able to focus on her studies, get assistance from teachers and stay in touch with her mother back home. And thanks to Access from AT&T, we can connect low-income households like Susana’s, and more communities in areas we serve with their American Dream. Find out how.   Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter Renuka Rayasam @renurayasam Chris Suellentrop @suellentrop Tyler Weyant @tweyant Myah Ward @myahward   FOLLOW US

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