As students at the Yale School of Public Health, we were disheartened to read the April 8 editorial, “Mask Off.” The Editorial Board displays flawed logic combined with an insensitivity to the minimum needs of all University members in favor of a quicker return to “normal.” In arguing that Yale COVID-19 rules should be relaxed to meet the bare minimum set forward by the country, the Editorial Board disregards Yale’s responsibility to provide an equitable and safe educational environment, and chooses to put the “college experience” above the experience of the vulnerable. 

The Editorial Board suggests that Yale’s policies are too strict, and not in accordance with the policies in place around the country. The reality is that Yale has more COVID-19 policies in place because it has the material resources and public health expertise to do so. Yale’s provision of free testing, masks, isolation dormitories and army of dedicated public health staff are a privilege rather than a burden. Many would be hard-pressed to imagine an easier place to be diagnosed, receive care and safely ensure that they don’t pass the virus to others. 

In addition, Yale researchers and staff actively contribute to COVID-19 research in our community to inform university policies. For example, the Editorial Board argues for more lenient isolation rules, in accordance with the CDC five-day isolation guidance. Research conducted at the Yale School of Public Health in conjunction with the Yale COVID-19 Testing and Tracing Program found that nearly 50 percent of Yale students tested positive via rapid antigen tests on day 5 of isolation, meaning that on day five they had a high risk of passing the virus on to others. Yale’s isolation policies align with this finding and differ from the CDC recommendation, which was made in a time of widespread lack of testing and profound social and economic challenges. Basing Yale policies on emerging science informed by local data, rather than constraining them to country-wide policy, ensures the safest environment for all students. These resources and expertise, tailored to the Yale community, are also why students have been able to once again attend classes in person, live safely in dormitories and attend gatherings and events. 

The Editorial Board further states that classrooms have not been a major source of COVID-19 transmission at Yale and pushes for the removal of masks. This argument displays a misunderstanding of cause and effect. Classrooms have not been a source of transmission because of the policies in place to prevent them from becoming one. Yale is first and foremost a place of education, and the University’s responsibility is to provide a safe and accessible environment for its students to learn and its faculty to teach. An unmasked classroom isn’t safe or accessible for any student or faculty member at high risk for COVID-19. University policies should and do adjust based on local transmission, while weighing the needs of those who want as much of the “normal” experience as possible with the needs of those students and faculty who advocate for even greater levels of precaution. The classroom is the fundamental setting in which education occurs. Vulnerable University members should not have to struggle with whether or not to attend class due to health concerns.

In sum, the Editorial Board falls into a logical trap that plagues public health. When public health is well-resourced, nothing happens. It is akin to investing in wildfire prevention and not having a fire rip through your neighborhood. Yale’s investments in public health prevents the mass outbreaks that have afflicted universities elsewhere, inevitably disrupting classes, harming vulnerable people, and spilling into surrounding communities. They are what has enabled our university to function almost normally in a profoundly abnormal time. They have also spared us the policy whiplash experienced by other universities now reinstating mask mandates amid rising cases. One day, we hope that we can collectively toss our masks in the trash bin. We are not there yet. Until then, we are fortunate to attend a school advantaged enough to keep the fires at bay. 

REBECCA EARNEST and ALEXANDRA SAVINKINA are PhD students in Yale School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases.  Contact them at rebecca.earnest@yale.edu and Alexandra.savinka@yale.edu.