I recently saw a video of a woman throwing an epic tantrum in Costco because they asked her to wear a mask in their store per the store policy. She laid on the floor, refused to leave, and screamed that the store was violating her constitutional rights. They even offered her a free mask, but she refused to wear it. I wish I could say that this was just one crazy lady, but honestly, it is an attitude I see more and more of on social media, and it is driving me bonkers. When every other country has required people to wear masks, their citizens have done so. Individual counties in Indiana now require masks, and I’ve seen a lot of statements out there like “You can’t make me” or “They can’t actually enforce this, so I don’t have to abide.”
Americans are acting like tantrum-throwing toddlers because they don’t feel they should be told to do anything at all. This attitude is an “every man for himself” attitude that shows we have lost compassion, connection, and community. Yes, masks are uncomfortable and inconvenient, but they save lives. I’m not quite sure how this evolved into an infringement upon people’s rights, a political statement, or even a moral issue. This is science meets compassion and common sense.
“But they aren’t proven to be effective in stopping Covid-19!”. Ok cool, show me the research you conducted in your medical lab. But in all seriousness, spend the time to look into the data behind mask-wearing, and you will see that time and time again masks have been shown to reduce the spread. Here are links to research articles that demonstrate mask-wearing to be effective:
This study looked at COVID deaths across almost 200 countries and found that those countries that required or favored masks had a lower death rate.
This experiment found that 20-500 micrometers were expelled while saying a single phrase but that nearly all of them were blocked by covering the mouth with a wet washcloth.
Then there is this study that looked at patients diagnosed with the flu and/or a common cold that found significantly fewer droplets of the virus transmitted when wearing a surgical mask.
And here a study was done specifically around Washington D.C. when masks were required to slow the spread. This study found that five days before the mask mandate went into effect, the spread was at a rate of 2%. Five days after the mask mandate, the spread was cut in half to less than 1%.
So there is your science behind mask wearing-chose to do with it what you will. If we see another spike in positive COVID-19 cases or our numbers don’t improve, we could be looking at another shutdown or at the very least, an extended quarantine. Let’s all do our part to get out of this together: Be kind and wear a mask.
