Dr. Saphier calls for an end to mandates that 'make no sense'
Fox News medical contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier responds to an article by The Atlantic that defends 'illogical' mask mandates.
As most of the world knows by now, Queen Elizabeth II — who is 95 — tested positive for COVID and has been experiencing "mild, cold-like symptoms," as Buckingham Palace announced Sunday morning.
The monarch's diagnosis of COVID-19 followed the same diagnosis for her eldest son, Prince Charles, 73, who tested positive for the virus for the second time, earlier this month.
The Queen — beloved by millions around the world — is fully vaccinated as well as boosted.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II — who is 95 years old — during a reception for international business and investment leaders at Windsor Castle to mark the Global Investment Summit on Oct. 19, 2021, in Windsor, England. (Photo by Alastair Grant - Pool/Getty Images)
Scores of people wish the Queen well and are cheering her on for a speedy recovery, even as it's become clear she's continuing to handle "light duties" as she recovers.
Many other people, in a variety of situations, don't have the same options, of course. Scores of people in the U.S. who test positive for the virus must be quarantined and kept apart from peers, even their own family members.
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So many of America's kids (not to mention parents and grandparents) have been going through some extremely trying times over the past two years. A selection of parents and other family members across the U.S. shared thoughts about all of this with Fox News Digital — here's what they said.
‘Wake up, America!’
"I find it ironic that a 95-year-old woman with COVID can function and perform ‘light duties’ — and health care workers who have COVID can go to work because somehow they aren’t contagious enough to be home for an extended period of time," said Jennifer Ohman, a mother of two in Padre Island, Texas.
"Yet my kids are forced to stay out of school for 10 days — that's 10 [full] days if they contract COVID."
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Ohman continued, "We know full well they aren’t contagious for that long. And relying on Zoom classes — which aren’t what parents think they are — to somehow make up for forcing the obnoxiously long absence is ridiculous. It puts these kids behind in classes. They are considered to have an unexcused absence if they aren’t placed into Zoom classes in a timely fashion."
Many American children in a variety of states have had to endure mask mandates throughout the pandemic. (https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/students-in-wendy-verrall-u2019s-second-grade-class-make-news-photo/1333814539)
This mother added, "I know this because I went through it with my kids." She concluded, "Wake up, America!"
We need 'individual choice for medical decisions’
"Our son is a senior in high school and attends every day," said dad Eric Graves of Chesapeake, Virginia. "Masks are optional for him, but we have told him that as an adult, he can make his own decisions about wearing masks."
The father added of his son, "He chooses to wear one in deference to a teacher with a spouse who has a compromised immune system."
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"Our family supports individual choice for medical decisions," Graves also said.
There must 'be mutual respect’
"Facts stemming from COVID-19 research are too scattered for implementing a one-size-fits-all approach," said Erika Oswald, a mother of four from St. Johns, Florida.
"Every individual has to decide what risk they are willing to take for themselves and their dependents. There needs to be mutual respect for either decision."
College students wear masks in this file photo to protect themselves against the coronavirus during the pandemic. (iStock)
Oswald added, "Until there is a consistent understanding of the nature of COVID-19 and what factually works to properly fight it, mandates, strict protocols, threats to humanity, etc. are unwarranted."
Current mitigation efforts are ‘unsustainable’
"It’s unsustainable," said mother-of-two Alicia Persson of Spotsylvania County, Virginia. "I have struggled to keep my job for these past two years and I’m tired of the interruptions."
She also said, "COVID mitigation has been terrible for my children’s mental health. My oldest cries constantly during virtual learning. We are moving to a county with [fewer] restrictions to give her a normal life," Persson added.
Having ‘options’ is ‘necessary’
"COVID-19 took a toll on many students, including my son," said Kimberly Laube, a mother of four from Altoona, Iowa.
A masked child and mom are shown in this file photo as they go about their business. (iStock)
"We were so grateful to find an all-online program for him to finish out his senior year, as attending school with 2,000 other students was not something he felt he could do," Laube added.
"[Having] options was necessary for him. We are so pleased an all-online accredited high school diploma is now [within] his reach this May," Laube also told Fox News Digital.
‘Time for kids to stop paying the price'
"COVID precautions like masking and keeping kids home from school haven’t worked and have, in fact, harmed children," Ericka Andersen, a mom in Indianapolis, Indiana, told Fox News Digital. "It’s time for kids to stop paying the price for the fears of adults."
"We need to be rational about who and how COVID affects," she added. "Children are low risk in every way and must not be used in this way anymore."
Make decisions based on ‘common sense, not panic’
"Schools and their boards coming around and adjusting their protocols is a step in the right direction back to normalcy," said Milissa Swingle, a single mother of four school-age children in central New Jersey.
"At last, we’re getting back to a place where decisions are based on common sense and not media-fueled panic."
In this file photo, kindergarten students participate in a classroom activity on the first day of in-person learning at Maurice Sendak Elementary School in Los Angeles, California, on April 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
"The Queen, by virtue of her age alone, is extremely vulnerable. [Yet] even the Queen is … sending the message that COVID-19 is something that we have to learn to live with," Swingle added.
"Since COVID-19 isn’t going away soon, we need to do what we can to make smart decisions based on our own personal situations," this mom continued. "Turning the page on the pandemic at this point should be a no-brainer, particularly when it comes to younger, less vulnerable populations."
‘Don’t live in fear'
"My kids and their teachers don’t wear a mask and are doing well," said Diana Elmore of Jacksonville, Florida, a mother of two.
"My family is not vaxxed, and we go everywhere without a mask," she also said. "We are all doing well because we don’t live in fear. Fear will kill you faster than COVID."
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‘This’ needs ‘to stop’
"Children have been forced to wear masks, socially distance from friends and change how they look in general," said Nicole Colwell, a mom in Elmira, New York.
"Since the beginning of the pandemic, COVID-19 has never been a serious issue for children, and the statistics prove that. I believe that all of [these] adjustments [we've been making] are nothing short of mental and physical abuse on our children — and it's past time for it all to stop."
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