Wear A Mask Or Stay Home - And Response

  • Thursday, October 15, 2020

I cannot understand why people are still testing positive. Are people not following the guidelines? Are they not wearing masks?

I thought we were an intelligent race and given that the media broadcasts every little surge each and every day how is it possible people aren’t getting this?

Good grief, Hamilton County, whether you like wearing masks or not, do it anyway and protect yourself and others.

If you cannot wear a mask stay home. 

Dawn Devine

* * * 

Yes, wear a mask. But there is more to wearing a mask than is being emphasized by the media.

Here is a statement from the CDC guidelines about masks:

Are masks effective in preventing COVID-19?

Wearing cloth masks can help prevent people infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 from spreading the virus. Make sure your cloth mask: fits snugly but comfortably against the side of the face, completely covers the nose and mouth, is secured with ties or ear loops, includes multiple layers of fabric, allows for breathing without restriction, and can be laundered and machine dried without damage or change to shape. Cloth masks should not be worn by children less than 2 years old or anyone who has trouble breathing or is unconscious, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance.

Read the first sentence several times. Cloth masks serve several purposes. They remind us not to touch our face with our hands which repeatedly come into contact with surfaces and items around us. The act of taking your mask up and down or off and on "contaminates" the mask each time you do so. Use hand sanitizer before handling your mask. They prevent water droplet spread when someone sneezes or coughs, but the virus is not spread through water droplets. I doubt that most of the masks we see are constructed of multiple layers of cloth. I doubt that people are washing their masks properly or exchanging disposable masks. There is much more to wearing a mask than the media is focusing on.

Besides wearing a mask there is the subject of social distancing. Stores may enforce it at the door or at the checkout, but not inside the business itself. Customers fail to maintain distancing and it's been that way from the beginning. Go to any business and watch people. They seem oblivious to social distancing. Go to resort areas and observe people in large tight crowds. Congregating in enclosed environments with large numbers of people is a major risk but it is being allowed in some businesses.

Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer frequently. consider everything you touch to be "contaminated". Universal precautions require that you don't assume that you can determine what is safe or dangerous.

Yes, wear a mask, but understand the principles involved in effective mask use.

Ted Ladd

Opinion
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