Mask Mandates for Schools in Camas County Idaho
Maybe it’s the proximity to Blaine County. Late last night a parent in the Camas County School System sent me a note. Mask mandates have returned for classrooms. This could extend well into October. I checked the district’s website and saw a link about finding COVID information on the resources page. The page appears to have last been updated during the summer of 2020.
As I write this dark and early in the morning, the district offices aren’t yet open.
I’m not joking about neighboring Blaine County. The two counties share a boundary and a lot of commerce. Over the weekend a politician told me he believes Blaine County is the epicenter of the latest outbreak in Idaho. It may have the highest percentage of vaccinated people in the state, however. It’s a tourist mecca. There are a lot of people flying or driving into Blaine County every day. While many of them are vaccinated it stands to reason the volume of tourist traffic plays a role. Because not every visitor is vaccinated and even some of those inoculated can still transmit the disease.
Then you have Camas County as a close neighbor with shared commerce.
There is some good news. In some parts of the Deep South, where the latest variant has been raging, there are big drops in infection rates. In some places as much as a 40 percent plunge over the last week. I think it would suggest the tide is receding.
The best advice is to stay safe. Eat well and if you’re concerned, stay away from potential hotspots. People demanding forced vaccinations sometimes overlook personal responsibility can simply mean staying home and away from large gatherings. As a personal choice and not under any orders from government.