Editorial voice from elsewhere
Hey, folks.
We know we’ve been beating the drum about wearing a mask a whole lot and you’re probably tired of it.
Frankly, we’re tired of writing it.
But since it looks like a whole lot of people have decided to quit wearing them while going out (despite an order that requires them when you leave your home), we’re going to address it one more time.
None of us are health experts, though.
Thankfully, Dr. Anthony Fauci is.
Last week, Fauci warned Congress that U.S. coronavirus cases could rise by 100,000 a day, telling lawmakers the country is “going in the wrong direction.”
In short, should Americans continue to shun recommendations like masking, social distancing and limits on gatherings, the country is in for a problem, he said.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, specifically noted that those who don’t wear masks “may propagate the further spread of infection.”
“We’ve got to get the message out that we are all in this together,” he urged.
It sounds cheesy, but it’s true.
Remember the early days of the pandemic when everyone was eager to help those around them in any way they could? Strangers delivered supplies to one another, and a whole lot of people just wanted to do whatever little deed they could to help ease this shared burden.
Fast forward nearly four months, and people just want to get back to “normal.”
That’s not to say that the helpers have disappeared, just that many have come to focus so solely on putting this pandemic in the rearview mirror that some have forgotten that the burden still exists and it’s still shared.
Even if you are not in a high-risk category for complications if you contract COVID-19, chances are very good that someone around you is.
Wearing a mask when you’re in close contact with others, according to local, state and national health experts, offers others protection from you, should you have the virus and not know it.
So, we seriously scratch our heads trying to figure out why masking is such a big deal to people.
Are they inconvenient? A bit.
But weigh it out, ask yourself what’s worse: the annoyance of putting on a mask or potentially being the reason someone gets seriously ill or even dies?
Maybe we look at the world through rose-colored glasses, but we don’t think anyone is so selfish that they really don’t care about the lives around them.
In March, this newspaper started running a daily list of virus-related announcements. For a couple of months, closing and cancellations dominated the list.
Now, things have shifted, as more businesses, parks, libraries and churches have reopened.
We’d really like to keep it that way, and masking is one of the ways we can do that.