Bucks County Health lifts mask requirement for athletes in competition

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Billy Splain | February 27, 2021

CB East player Mia Salvati with a layup and a mask

Scenes like these are no longer required as declared by the Bucks County Health department. 

In a statement mailed out to school superintendents (seen below) in Bucks County, Bucks County Director of Health Dr. David Damsker noted Section 3. A, of the order from the Secretary of the PA Depart of Health requiring facemasks during spring athletics.  The order states that exceptions apply to individual for whom wearing a mask while executing a task would create an unsafe condition as determined by local regulators. 3, B also indicates that if wearing a face covering would either cause a medical condition or exacerbate an existing one, that individual is also exempted.

Dr. Damsker explained that he calls contact during sports such as football, basketball and others “explosive contact”. He defines it as running by someone, blocking, tackling and brief contacts. “You simply don’t spread Covid through short bursts of contact like that.” Statistics show that no team according to the Health Departments knowledge, at any level of play anywhere in the US, has reported an infection from a positive athlete on an opposing team stemming from on-court/on field competition.  “Additionally we found that any spread within teams was happening after activities. They go out with their friends, have sleep overs or simply riding around together. That’s how it’s been spread within teams, not during practice or games.” said Damsker.

In an article published by Fierce Healthcare, the NFL also came to the same conclusions. “As part of contact tracing efforts, the league required players and staff to use wearable devices provided by Kinexon that can warn users if they are too close to one another as well as record proximity and duration of interactions among users to trace and evaluate chains of infection. The biggest insight from all those data collected? All close contacts are not created equal, Sills said. “Some contacts convey higher risk, and circumstances matter,” he said. By midseason in late September and early October, the NFL’s contact tracing efforts found that transmission of the virus occurred in less than 15 minutes of cumulative interaction between individuals. And those interactions were taking place off the playing field.

The letter also stated how states surrounding Pennsylvania, like New Jersey, do not require masks when persons are engaged in sports. Ohio doesn’t require masks on the field of play, New York doesn’t require masks if “players are unable to tolerate a face covering for the physical activity such as practicing and playing said sports. Maryland uses the wording “bona fide safety risk”.

Pennsylvania’s mask mandate went into effect just before the PIAA State Championship football games on Thanksgiving. Dr. Damsker said when basketball season began some teams in Bucks county wanted to allow players to participate without masks but when they found out others wouldn’t play them they eventually went along with the requirement.

Statewide, mask mandates vary from school district to school district.  During the fall football season personnel on the sidelines wore masks but players did not.  With spring football just two weeks away in the south eastern section of the state and the statewide mandate still in place, the PIAA says the order is in effect for all but Section 3 allows for an exception. Individual assessments are to be made and the Q & A of order states football does not have to wear masks…may cause health issue . Schools should consult with team physician and school solicitor in making decisions; that what we put out in December.

We’ll have to wait and see if and how neighboring Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties are willing to use this data.

Letter in it’s entirety as sent to Superintendents of Bucks County

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