Gov. Lee recommends children wear masks in schools

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - During a press conference about the flooding in Middle Tennessee, Governor Bill Lee recommended that children wear masks in schools.

“It’s not my job to tell a parent what to do, but what I would say is that if you want to protect your kid from the virus or from quarantine, the best way to do that is to have your kid in school with a mask,” said Lee.

Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner, Dr. Lisa Piercey, spoke on the state of COVID-19 in Tennessee and pediatric COVID cases.

Piercey said that the best way to protect children, is for schools and parents to mask up their students.

“When more kids are masked in classrooms they’re more likely to stay in school,” said Piercey.

Piercey said there have been 14,000 pediatric cases in the last seven days, with 1,300 emergency room visits.

36 percent of all cases in the state are children, with the largest increase coming from children ages 5-13, according to Piercey.

“There’s not a single person that doesn’t agree that keeping kids healthy and keeping them in the classroom is the best,” she said. “One incredibly effective way to do that is for schools and for parents to use the best tool we have for unvaccinated children, and that’s masking up their students.”

Copyright 2021 WVLT. All rights reserved.