Log in Subscribe

Just wear a mask

Kathy Werner - Columnist
Posted 10/8/20

I must admit that like everyone else, I am tired of dealing with the restrictions that Covid-19 has brought into our lives.

However, there is no question that masks, handwashing, and social …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Just wear a mask

Posted

I must admit that like everyone else, I am tired of dealing with the restrictions that Covid-19 has brought into our lives.

However, there is no question that masks, handwashing, and social distancing are necessary parts of our daily routine and will be until we have a reliable vaccine.

That's just science. You can be unhappy about it, but science doesn't really care how you feel and neither does the coronavirus.

After hearing about the recent superspreader events at the White House and watching as the list of Covid-positive attendees grows longer and longer, one would expect to see the administration show, oh, I don't know…perhaps some contrition, some humility, some apology for endangering so many lives? Perhaps some soul searching and a reversal in policy?

Instead, we have a man who is airlifted to a hospital where he receives free world-class medical care including some experimental drugs, and is then airlifted back home, where he takes off his mask and tells us “don't let coronavirus dominate your life.”

Really? Are you seriously saying that to all the grieving families who have lost a loved one to this virus?

I just can't deal with these people pretending that Covid is not serious and extremely contagious. And I am tired of having our public health policies being influenced by Fox news contributors like radiologist Scott Atlas while Dr. Anthony Fauci, the world's leading expert on infectious diseases, is sidelined.

Don't get me wrong. I'm glad the president is feeling A-OK and I hope everyone who was infected at White House superspreader events recovers quickly.

But can we all agree that these White House events were ill-advised?

Of course, those at the White House had access to rapid testing, so they mistakenly thought they were safe.

However, according to the New York Times, “Other health experts noted that the tests deployed by the White House, manufactured by Abbott Laboratories, were given emergency clearance by the Food and Drug Administration only for people ‘within the first seven days of the onset of symptoms.' But they were used incorrectly, to screen people who were not showing any signs of illness. Such off-label use, experts said, further compromised a strategy that presumably was designed to keep leading officials safe from a pandemic that so far has killed more than 210,000 Americans.”

The example should have come from the top, but inexplicably, the administration made mask-wearing a political statement, and their maskless appearances and gatherings gave license to others to view mask-wearing as a personal choice rather than a civic responsibility. Such folly has consequences.

Just wear a mask, people. Believe science.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here