It is Time to Wear a Mask. If Governments will not act to protect us, we must protect each other.

opinionred 100x100By Jim Young

July 6, 2020

BURLINGTON, ON

 

As we watch our neighbours to the south descend into self-inflicted chaos over their refusal to grasp the importance of wearing masks in a pandemic, I am reminded that we Canadians sometimes feel superior to Americans. We are not, and viruses treat us equally. We are however different. Our founding principles make us so. While Americans seek the “unalienable rights to the preservation of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, we in Canada settle more modestly for “peace, order and good government”.

Nothing highlights this more than the issue of face covering to reduce the spread of Covid 19. The evidence is conclusive, health experts estimate that 30 to 60 % of all spread, by proximity, breathed droplets or hand contact, may be asymptomatic. Figures from New York suggest the Covid19 transmission rate in health care workers is reduced by 61.3%. (12.2% compared to 19.9% of the general public.) Those working closest to infected people have lower infection because they wear face coverings and other PPE. Have we learned nothing from the resurgence in the USA, where freedom from masks has become the political war cry of the US re-opening?

Our politicians vacillate. The Feds say the provinces must act, Ontario Premier Ford says it should be decided locally, GTHA municipal leaders beg the province for universal standards. Everyone agrees that mandatory face covering in close public proximity is a good idea. Yet none of them act. They claim it will be difficult to enforce. Sorry, but a good idea is still a good idea! If enforcement is a barrier, eliminate the barrier not the idea. Public smoking, speeding and drunk driving are tough to enforce, and we do that. The job of leaders is to lead. Please don’t squander the months of sacrifice by millions of Ontarians, putting lives, jobs and businesses on hold, to fight this virus and save lives. That fight is not yet over.

What drives this reluctance to enforce face coverings? It should not be fear of offending voters on the “civil liberties” left or the “don’t infringe my freedom” right. This virus may be the only non-partisan thing in North America today. It is neither Liberal, Conservative, Democrat, Republican, left or right. Covid 19 is coming for all of us, straight down the middle.

For retail corporations, keen to resume business as usual, mandating masks seems not to be a priority. Need we remind them, as they seek every minor competitive advantage, failure to enforce face covering puts their own employees at risk as it does their customers? Any perception of reduced risk spells danger for their reopening too. The virus is still out there; and putting customers at risk has never been a good business strategy.

The US re-opening failure should remind us that abandoning caution and masks, in the “pursuit of happiness”, and economic recovery has consequences. Avoiding a similar disaster will mean re-opening smarter. The more Canadian approach of “order and good government” demands that our political leaders get off the fence and mandate wearing face coverings when safe distancing is difficult or is not an option.

Other than a very small number of pulmonary health limitations, there is no argument for not wearing a mask. They are not too warm. The places we should be wearing them are mostly air conditioned, in malls, stores and indoor spaces. The time spent masked up is minimal. No-one is asking you to wear one at home, in your car, or walking in the park.

To those who demand the freedom not to wear a mask, store workers and other customer’s rights must be equally respected. The saying: “Your right to swing your fist freely, ends at my nose!” makes: “No Mask …. No Entry” a reasonable position. Considering all the freedoms we have sacrificed until now to fight this virus, giving up the freedom to make others sick seems hardly worth of defending.

My mother would have said: “For goodness sakes top whining and put your mask on.” Infectious Disease Specialist, Dr. Lilian Abbo said it better: “If you don’t like wearing a mask ….. You sure as hell won’t like wearing a ventilator.”
Face coverings will not end Covid 19, and we must be careful not to let masks lull us into a false sense of safety, but they will help and If you won’t wear a mask to protect your neighbours, please wear one to protect the front line health worker beside you in the check-out line or reaching past you for that last bottle of hand sanitizer. They wear them all the time to protect you!

Jim Young is an Aldershot resident who comments frequently on public issues.

 

 

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