The sudden deaths of two students aged 14 and 15 on the running track in China have sparked public concerns about school kids being forced to take part in PE class with masks on.
On April 24, a 15-year-old schoolboy, lived in Henan province collapsed when running during PE lessons with a mask on, he was reported dead soon after he collapsed.
His death followed that of another schoolboy who aged 14, also collapsed and reported dead during a 1 km fitness test at his school in Changsha, Hunan province on Apr 30. Coincidently, during the run the boy was wearing a N95 mask.
Following the Covid-19 outbreak, school kids across China have been returning to school after a 3 months school closure but still as safety measures they are required to do temperature check and wear face masks at all times while in the school campus.
However, Dr Ren Zhiming from Xinhua Hospital said “there is no evidence that these two deaths were actually caused by the masks rather than underlying health factors, like undetected heart diseases.”
And Chinese health experts tried to calm the public about the incidents, noting that while wearing a mask while running does reduce the amount of oxygen you inhale, it is not known to cause sudden deaths.
A few Chinese provinces and localities including Shanghai, aren’t taking any chance but came out with a statement that they have banned running tests and PE exams for the time being.
Source : Sohu