Commentary : face masks in physical education classes during the COVID-19 delta variant wave : a call for awareness

To reduce the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus delta variant (COVID-19 delta) virus and minimise transmission within school settings, governments worldwide have introduced new school guidelines for using face masks (Spitzer, 2020). These increased measures aim to reduce the spread since the data shows that the coronavirus delta variant is highly transmissible among children with increased infection rates (Lechien & Saussez, 2021). In Australia, the New South Wales Government made it mandatory for students to wear face masks in secondary schools (Year 7 to 12) and allowed it to be optional in primary (Kindergarten to Year 6) schools. Health orders in South Korea and Spain require primary and secondary school students to use face masks (Cha, 2021; Guell, 2021). While in the United Kingdom, secondary school students are required to wear face masks if the number of COVID cases increase in their community (England, 2021). Even if slightly different, these guidelines to use face masks align with World Health Organization’s recommendations where minimal distancing from others is not possible (Krishnaratne et al., 2020). However, the World Health Organisation’s recommendations related to physical education (PE) is that special considerations may be required if face masks significantly hinder the learning process and negatively impact the delivery of the curriculum (Krishnaratne et al., 2020).