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Masks

Continued from page 1 difference in transmission or death rates. Very importantly, the vaccination rates made all the difference,” Gandhi said.

The most important thing people could do during the pandemic is to get vaccinated, Gandhi advised. “I think we have to keep it a choice for the masking.”

Gandhi’s recently published book, Endemic, is about the politicization of public health policy. She said that closing schools during COVID was a politically driven decision and “not good for children in the Blue States, because the Red States kept their schools open.”

Dr. Mina Hakim, a pediatric specialist at South Central Family Health Center in Los Angeles, offered a similar view about masks from “down in the trenches.”

“The results of the study were clear in that surgical masks, N95 masks, did not make a difference in the transmission of Covid or the flu,” Hakim said.

“The mask is a small piece of a much bigger shield that we have against COVID. I would use the bigger piece of the shield, which is a vaccine, and I would not recommend masks for the general population,” Hakim added. Like Schaffner and Gandhi, he recommended masks for vulnerable populations.

Kids and masks

He said the Cochrane review looked at a few studies that were specifically for children, and those results were even more definitive.

“Kids are the worst at keeping things on. You’d be lucky if you have a kid with their pants on at the end of the day let alone having a mask on that increases humidity, increases difficulty of breathing, and it’s just overall uncomfortable,” Hakim said.

They’re constantly touching things, wiping their nose, taking their mask off to eat and drink. They share pencils and pens that have been in other kids’ mouths. And teenagers are horrendous at being compliant, Hakim added.

Like Schaffner and Gandhi, Hakim recommended wearing masks for vulnerable people.

“If we could provide masks particularly to those high-risk people, I think that might … increase the trust because we’re not imposing the masks on them, but making them available, so that people feel more comfortable and reassured that it’s a good thing to do,” says Hakim.

All three speakers agreed that as studies like the Cochrane report reveal new findings about the efficacy of preventive care, these should not diminish public trust.

“One of the most difficult things for the general public to understand is that we will give you our best advice today but if we learn something tonight, we may have to change that advice tomorrow, and that this is an ongoing process,” Schaffner says.

SC junks lower retirement age for female flight attendants

MANILA -- The Supreme Court en banc has struck down a provision in the 23-year-old collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the management and workers of national flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) mandating a lower mandatory retirement age for female flight attendants.

In a statement issued Friday, the SC said it has declared unconstitutional Section 144(A) of the 2000-2005 CBA between PAL and the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP), which pegged the compulsory retirement age of female cabin attendants at 55 years old and male cabin attendants at 60 years old.

The court said the provision "was deemed void for lack of basis, discriminating against women, and being contrary to laws, international convention, and public policy."

"The Court, speaking through Senior Associate Justice Marvic Mario Victor F. Leonen, emphasized the fundamental equality of women and men before the law which is enshrined and guaranteed by the Constitution, the Labor Code, the Magna Carta of Women, and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women," the tribunal said.

Furthermore, the SC said PAL "failed to provide a reasonable basis for differentiating compulsory retirement age based on sex. It found insufficient proof to support the conclusion that female cabin attendants between 55 to 59 years old did not have the strength to open emergency doors, the agility to attend to passengers in cramped working conditions, and the stamina to withstand grueling flight schedules unlike their male counterparts.

The Court also ruled that petitioners were denied employment opportunity at an age “not young enough to seek for a new job but not old enough to be considered retired,” and deprived them of benefits attached to employment, such as income and medical benefits, five years earlier than their male counterpart, without any factual basis. (MNS)

Stay Safe Everyone Wear Your Mask Wash Hands Often

COVID-19

Continued from page 1 lamang nakakabawas sa panganib na magkaroon ng matagal na COVID, nakakatulong din ito na maipagpatuloy ng mga tao ang mga bagay na nakakapagpasaya sa kanila gaya ng hiking, pagpunta sa mga pagtitipon ng pamilya nang hindi nag-aalala sa kalusugan nila o sa kalusugan ng iba,” ayon kay

Dr. Scott Huang, D.O., Family Medicine, Medical Director ng Chinese Hospital Clinics. Pumasok sa tagsibol, ang panahon ng pagbabago, na may bagong determinasyon na gawing bahagi ng pag-uugali ang pagiging malusog.

Para sa higit pang impormasyong tungkol sa mga bakuna sa COVID at para makahanap ng