To Wear, or Not To Wear, There is a Question?

by Mari Sloan

First of all, a mask is not protection for you, it is protection for those around you from you. And if you think you couldn’t have COVID-19 so everyone is safe from you, let’s just remember you are walking around unmasked and unprotected right now so why should anyone trust that you have your shit together? Statements that cause me to cringe when I hear them:

“I don’t need a mask. I don’t go anywhere.” (You are somewhere right now. Don’t tell me you don’t go anywhere.)

“I don’t need a mask. I don’t have a fever or any symptoms.” (Asymptomatic people can still carry it to others and you can transmit the virus for a day or so before the symptoms hit.)

“I just got tested.” (And why did you get tested? Tests are not just handed out like they actually should be so that we could rely on that one.)

Far too many people are running around when they should be quarantining with the family member who is suffering an active COVID-19 case within their household. You think you can’t get, don’t have or are immune to COVID-19? For every person who gets tested there are other household members who choose not to test because they already know what they have and don’t want to handle the quarantine or take the precautions mandated by taking a test. Think about that.

California regulations require everyone in a household to quarantine until the COVID-19 runs its course and they test negative, even the asymptomatic ones. This can be for as little as ten days if only one family member catches it, or as long as it takes if it runs through the family. Test, quarantine, and extend the courtesy of being sure you don’t infect others by wearing a mask.

Thousands of elderly and immune-compromised humans are staying completely in because if they catch COVID-19 from someone who doesn’t think they need to wear a mask, it will kill them. If you are “unable to find a masking solution” for yourself, stay in with them.

Testing, Face Covering, Hand Washing, and Distancing have to go hand-in-hand until we get a vaccine that works and testing needs to be easily available for everyone who thinks they may need to be tested. Countries that had mandatory testing for everyone found their carriers early, and those people quarantined until they tested negative. Face Coverings keep those who do not know they are infected, or have an early infection, from infecting others who, in turn, infect their high risk family members. Not attending big gatherings with a bunch of people helps everyone.

If you were going to attend a big event that you were told was going to have a sniper that was going to shoot a number of the people who went, would you go? You wouldn’t. Attending a big event is slightly better if you are outside or try to distance or wear a face covering, but that protects other people, not so much you. Some people will unknowingly transmit COVID-19 at big events, maybe never knowing that they were infecting others at all. After all, plausible deniability is not just for politicians these days, and denial is the National panacea. Don’t be a casualty. Stupidity can be terminal now.