The doctor who headed the Rhode Island Department of Health and recommended mask mandates be imposed during the pandemic was unaware of recent studies that indicate masking is not effective and that children are not major drivers of COVID-19 transmission.
Dr. James McDonald, who stepped down as interim health director on June 25 but remains employed by the agency, was asked during a recent deposition what the department did after a judge in 2021 found evidence that the statewide school mask mandate was causing “irreparable harm” to students.
“We did what we said we would do: we looked for scientific literature that supported this finding,” McDonald said….