@Remmy123 "so what do you suggest ? Masks for 5 years olds?"
Yes. This is not exceptional, and has been happening in many other countries. For example:
nypost.com/2022/03/19/nycs-new-health-czar-says-young-kids-should-continue-wearing-masks/ -- "During his first press conference as commissioner, Dr. Ashwin Vasan cautioned on Friday that children under 5 years old should continue wearing masks because they’re not old enough to get vaccinated. He also cited high hospital rates for young children with COVID-19."
www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/03/masks-for-school-students-mandatory-in-several-eu-countries notes (ages are typically 6+ because that's when primary school starts in these countries):
"""
"Unless the entire class has been vaccinated, Italy has also required all pupils aged six and over to wear a mask indoors at school since last year, while Greece extended the mandate to nursery school children – with masks to be changed three times a day.
Belgium made mask wearing mandatory for all children over the age of six, including at school, in early December, with the health minister, Frank Vandenbroucke, saying the key lay in “stopping the engine” of viral transmission among children.
Spain’s school children aged six and over have been wearing masks in class since September 2020. The rule has generally met little resistance, although the far-right Vox party has sought to make political capital out of opposing it, claiming continued mask wearing by children “could be counter-productive” and affect development.
“Almost all children over six have worn masks without rejecting it, they’ve normalised it,” said Mireia Orgilés, the author of a study on the psychological impact of the pandemic on young people in Italy and Spain.
“If we explain it to them well, they can understand it and follow the rules. A lot of the time they can accept it more easily than adults,” Orgilés told the specialist publication El Diario de la Educación.
"""
It is abundantly clear that wearing a mask is a cheap, safe, and effective way to significantly reduce the spread of Covid 19.
For example, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2021.580150/full which notes:
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- Masks can provide the same type of protection in the context of COVID-19 to a child as to an adult. The use of masks should be considered without hesitation under the commonly adopted conditions, especially when in large gatherings and when social distancing is difficult to maintain
[...]
- When considering the use of masks by children, distinctions should be made for at least four age groups:
[...]
c. 5–6 years old.
i. The approach suggested above for 3–4-year-olds is identical but crying, and other manifestations of fear are much less frequent. For the rational explanation of the use of masks, one can begin by providing instructions for adequate compliance, non-manipulation, etc.
"""
Just like adults, some children, especially those with SEN, may have difficulty with masks, which is also addressed in the report.
But the fundamental truth is that, for the vast majority of adults and children, they are perfectly capable of wearing a mask, and should wear a mask, both to protect themselves, and to protect other people.