ALLENTOWN (TNS) — Last week’s announcement by federal health authorities that many people don’t have to wear masks outdoors anymore made a lot of sense.
I wonder how many people were wearing masks outdoors anyway, unless they were in crowds such as at a Major League Baseball game. I don’t see many.
Beyond vaccines, I believe masks are our biggest defense against COVID-19. But I don’t wear one when I’m outside golfing, jogging or at a cookout with a small group of friends or neighbors. I just try to stay socially distanced when possible.
The relaxed restrictions on masks apply to fully vaccinated people in small outdoor gatherings; anyone who is outside with only members of their household; and unvaccinated people in small outdoor gatherings with vaccinated people.
Let’s take it a little further.
It’s also time to end mask mandates for participants in athletic events that are outdoors, from T-ball to high school to adult recreational leagues.
There’s no reason for a center fielder, tennis player or a javelin thrower who isn’t around anyone to be wearing a mask. Field hockey and lacrosse players wear a mouth guard, which can make breathing through a mask difficult.
Most participants will be shoulder-to-shoulder with competitors or teammates at some point during a game, meet or race. But that contact usually is not for a sustained period, with the exception of a baseball catcher.
The images I’ve seen on television and in newspapers indicate mask use is lacking among youth athletes anyway.
That’s despite an order from Pennsylvania’s health secretary requiring masks to be worn during competition unless wearing one “would either cause a medical condition, or exacerbate an existing one, including respiratory issues that impede breathing, a mental health condition or a disability.”
Some high schools have cited that exemption in not requiring their athletic teams to wear masks. Others leave it up to individual team members.
Some schools and conferences require masks, but they frequently are worn improperly, hanging around the neck or covering the mouth but not the nose. And there is little enforcement.
In January, I wrote a column in support of a suspension of the Liberty High School boys basketball team for failing to wear masks properly while competing.
That was an indoor sport, being played at a different time.
The risk of transmitting the virus outdoors is much lower. Less than 10% of documented instances of transmission of the virus have happened outside, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Tuesday when updating the agency’s mask guidance.
Children have largely been spared from getting severely ill from COVID-19. A bigger concern when they get it is the danger they could spread it to parents, teachers, umpires, referees and other adults.
Many of those adults, and even the oldest teenagers, now have been vaccinated, reducing that risk.
As of Friday morning, 3.4 million Pennsylvanians were fully vaccinated and another 1.9 million partially vaccinated. Those numbers should continue to climb, as vaccines are plentiful now. Some clinics and pharmacies don’t even require an appointment anymore.
Pennsylvania should return to a previous version of its mask requirements for athletes who are playing outdoors.
That version, which was in place until last November, did not require masks to be worn during competition. They had to be worn on the sidelines, benches and in dugouts, where people were close together for long periods. That makes sense.
PIAA Executive Director Robert Lombardi told me Friday he believes the previous rule worked well.
In February, he wrote to state acting Health Secretary Alison Beam, asking that the previous rule be reapplied to interscholastic athletics.
“The health and safety of our student athletes, officials and spectators are our first concern and will always remain as such. With improving health indicators and proven best practices that prevent spread, we believe those adjustments can be done safely and without placing undue stress on our state’s health care system,” Lombardi wrote.
He told me the Health Department responded that the current mask order would remain in effect, and would continue to be reviewed. The department told me Friday nothing has changed.
I believe masks still should be required for indoor athletics, per the state’s order, subject to the exemptions. That should be revisited frequently, though, along with mask requirements for other indoor places.
At some point, I hope vaccination rates will reduce caseloads to the point where they aren’t necessary anywhere anymore.
For those who want to wear a mask outside while playing sports, that’s fine. Phillies shortstop Didi Gregorius wears one to protect himself because he has a kidney disorder. But they no longer should be required.
(Paul Muschick is a columnist for The Morning Call of Allentown.)
