Do We Really Still Need Masks?

As children prepare to go back to school while the Delta variant surges across Maine, masks are back in fashion. School districts across the state have reinstated mask mandates to protect children, educators, and their families at a time when the coronavirus is increasingly impacting kids and unvaccinated adults.

There are a lot of misconceptions surrounding mask use during the COVID-19 pandemic. With a return to masks ramping up, we thought we’d take a look at some of the false information making the rounds.

Myth: Masks are useless against COVID-19.

Fact: Besides vaccines, masks are the most effective method to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which is spread through respiratory droplets that travel through the air. Masks are meant to prevent your respiratory droplets from infecting others while protecting you from infection by other people. When an individual wears a mask, depending on its material and composition, they filter up to 95 percent of the respiratory droplets and aerosol particles that can carry COVID-19. Check out this New York Times interactive article to see how it works.

Source: Bryan Health

That said, it’s important to know how to wear your mask properly: covering your nose and mouth, with a snug fit all around.

Source: CDC

Additional Sources: Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins

Myth: Masks trap carbon dioxide and make it harder to breathe/make people sick.

Fact: If you’ve ever been to a doctor’s office or hospital, you know this isn’t true. There is no risk of lower oxygen levels or carbon dioxide poisoning because carbon dioxide filters through a mask’s breathable fabric.

Source: Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins

Myth: Healthy people don’t need to wear masks.

Fact: COVID-19 is known to produce asymptomatic cases, meaning patients may have the virus and spread it to others without realizing they’re sick because they show no symptoms. Wearing a mask keeps yourself and those around you safe from COVID-19. Whether you’re healthy, asymptomatic, or sick, a mask is still the simplest and best way outside vaccination to prevent the spread of the virus.

Sources: Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins

Myth: If you wear a mask, you don’t need to practice social distancing.

Fact: Masking alone is helpful in slowing the spread of COVID-19, but it’s not foolproof. Some respiratory droplets still find their way out of your mask, so it’s even more effective when combined with social distancing (staying at least 6 feet apart) and other precautions.

Source: Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins

Myth: Children are less likely to get COVID-19, so they don’t need to wear masks.

Fact: The rise of the Delta variant and lack of available vaccines for children under 12 have put kids at higher risk of contracting COVID-19. Though the effects of the disease are generally less severe, there has been a rise in hospitalizations among children with the virus. Additionally, children can aid the spread of the virus to older, more vulnerable populations.

If you are the parent of a school-age child, click here to find out whether their school has a mask mandate for Fall 2021. (Note: Not a comprehensive list.)

Source: Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins, NBC

The coming school year is a stark reminder that we’re not out of the woods yet with COVID-19. If we can continue to wear masks and get vaccinated, we can hope to return to normal in the near future.

Holding Our Elected Officials Accountable

The 2021 Legislative session was a great success for Maine’s working families. Our leaders in Augusta tackled plans to boost our public health in the wake of COVID-19, to strengthen our labor laws, and to protect our democracy.

Want to know how your representative voted on some of these measures? Mainers for Working Families has built a legislative tracker to help you find your representatives’ votes on key reforms.

Click here to view the legislative tracker.

Our leaders in Augusta have the power to implement the changes Maine’s working families need to thrive. It’s crucial that we understand how our lawmakers stand on these issues so that we can hold them accountable to the people who voted for them.

When the 2022 Legislative session begins, we will be prepared to keep our representatives to their word. Use the legislative tracker tool now to see how your House and Senate members voted.

How Redistricting Could Affect Maine

The results of the 2020 Census are in! Maine’s population has grown by about 34,000 people, and that means it’s time to talk about redistricting.

How does Maine conduct its redistricting process?

The Maine Legislature is responsible for redistricting following a census, adjusting the state’s two Congressional districts, 35 State Senate districts, and 151 State House districts accordingly. Legislators receive input from a 15-person bipartisan advisory commission. But the Legislature is not bound to follow the commission’s recommendations.

Delays in releasing the census data due to the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible for legislators to make informed updates to district maps before the June 11 deadline. The Maine Supreme Court has granted legislators 45 days following the release of the census data to draw their maps. From there, the House and Senate must each approve the maps by a two-thirds vote, and Governor Mills has the opportunity to either pass or veto the redistricting plan.

What could happen this year?

Most of Maine’s population growth took place in the southern part of the state. As a result, 23,000 people will be moved from the state’s 1st Congressional District (served by Rep. Pingree) to the 2nd Congressional District (served by Rep. Golden) to ensure relatively equal representation. Which towns will change districts, however, remains unclear. The Bangor Daily News argues that the border shift will most likely happen in Kennebec County, which has already been split between the two districts.

Why does it matter?

In 2018, Rep. Jared Golden won by a narrow margin thanks to the state’s newly implemented ranked-choice voting system, defeating incumbent Bruce Poliquin. In 2020, voters in the district reelected Golden while also voting for President Trump. And Poliquin has announced that he will be running to unseat Golden in 2022. His chances of succeeding could rely heavily on which towns are added to the district.

The debate on this is likely to get heated, but away from the public eye. Maine’s Constitution requires that districts be “compact, contiguous, and cross political subdivision lines as few times as possible,” meaning it’s extremely unlikely we’ll see wildly gerrymandered districts like those seen in other states. Partisan disagreements over the new maps would go to the Maine Supreme Court for deliberation.

As far as the state’s legislative districts are concerned, we can’t make any numerical predictions just yet. York and Cumberland Counties both saw their populations grow by over 7 percent, while Aroostook and Piscataquis Counties saw their numbers decline. This would mean that Senate District 1 (served by Senate President Troy Jackson) and Senate District 4 (served by Senator Paul Davis) would expand to fill the void, while House and Senate districts in the southern part of the state (mainly Senate Districts 26-35 and House Districts 1-50) would see their borders shift.

Maine’s small size and fairly stable population put us in a good position to see little change in this round of redistricting. We’ll be sure to update you when new district maps become available.