It has been interesting to listen to the current discussion around wearing a mask that has been circulating throughout the nation over the past few months. The science is imperfect, we know that. Understanding the COVID-19 virus is a work in progress and our understanding is growing daily. What we know now is better than what was known a month ago and is certainly better than operating in the dark. Understanding of this virus is evolving and as a result, knowledge is continuously expanding. We need to consider the information that we have learned and apply it to protect the health and wellness of our families, our communities, and ourselves.
Wearing a mask is not a belief system. Values, spirituality and religion are all critically important principles that promote health. For many of us, getting out of bed in the morning would be difficult if we did not have faith. It is critically important to the health of our nation that we do not confuse best medical practices with belief systems.
A little more than 100 years ago, medical practitioners did not believe that there was a connection between washing hands and infections. In the recent past, there were those who believed smoking was a personal choice that affected no one but himself or herself and that wearing seat belts was an infringement on their rights. There are those amongst us who still hold these beliefs but it is not because the science is not there to prove otherwise. (If you told any teenager that people used to smoke on airplanes – they would hoot at the absurdity of such a statement and today there are very few amongst us who would be okay with someone sitting next to us smoking a cigarette.) We cannot unknow what we have learned about how to protect our health and the health of those around us.
People really do not mean to be part of the problem. Some people may get this virus and have very few or limited symptoms from their infection and some do not even know that they have it. In the self-centered world that we all live in, if you aren’t at high risk, it’s easy to think COVID-19 is not that big of a deal. Others are very vulnerable to this virus – elders, folks with chronic illnesses, children with asthma or compromised immune systems, and for some individuals we really do not understand why the virus impacts them more severely.
This is a pandemic - the root of the word means all – the whole world, the whole country– it does not matter if you are a Republican or a Democrat, a Lutheran, a Catholic or practicing Lakota spirituality. We are all responsible to get this under control. Not getting infected is a critical piece in controlling this pandemic. We cannot think of this as a vacuum of just myself.
Everyone should be avoiding crowds, keeping a distance between yourself and others, and washing your hands. Wearing a mask is a critical part of reducing the spread of the infection. Masks are not a belief system like the Easter bunny or stepping on the crack on the sidewalk. They are a critical part of the current science on how we can all reduce the spread of the COVID. Please do your part – wear a mask.
Masks are not a belief system like the Easter bunny or stepping on the crack on the sidewalk. They are a critical part of the current science on how we can all reduce the spread of the COVID.