I Don’t Want to Die Because You Don’t Like Masks

Stillwater, Oklahoma had a mandatory mask policy. Had being the key word. So many workers at restaurants and businesses faced harassment, violence, and threats that for the safety of staff at multiple locations, the city rescinded the mask order. A dollar store security guard, Calvin Munerlyn, 43, had a verbal altercation. He had told a woman and her daughter to wear a mask inside the store. The daughter left. The mother shouted at Munerlyn, until he told the cashiers not to serve her. Twenty minutes later, she and two men returned. One of those men shot Munerlyn, and killed him. The county prosecutor said that “Mr. Munerlyn was simply doing his job in upholding the Governor’s Executive Order related to the COVID-19 pandemic for the safety of store employees and customers.”

There is a resistance to masks. (1, 2)

But That Doesn’t Matter

Although, as we’ve seen, the idea of a mandatory mask order ignites a violent reaction in some people, regardless, it needs to be done. Masks save lives. The only way we will beat back the novel coronavirus is by working together. Below, we’ll examine some common misconceptions about masks and the truth behind them.

How Come I Didn’t Have To Wear A Mask At The Start?

“Over time, we’re learning more about it, how it’s transmitted, situations in which it is not transmitted and we’re adjusting our recommendations based on what we learn,” says Professor James Thomas. He works at Chapel Hill Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina. He talked about a study in Hong Kong where a patient with COVID-19 was in close proximity with 70 other people. However, since all of those people–including the patient–were wearing masks, none of them contracted it. All the information wasn’t there at the start–but it is now. (1)

But It Only Affects Me!

That’s just not true. Masks aren’t to protect you from others–at least not the face coverings most of us use. Instead, masks protect other people from you. The CDC says the novel coronavirus passes from person to person on ”respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, talks, or raises their voice . . .These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs.” According to Dr. Joseph Allen, from Harvard University Public Health,

“Handwashing is social trust. Covering your coughs is social trust. Maintaining six feet of distance from others is social trust. Wearing a mask is social trust.” (1, 3)

But I Don’t Have COVID-19!

You don’t think you have COVID-19. Unfortunately, however, you just don’t know.
“Some estimates of around 40 percent of transmission may be due to asymptomatic (cases),” according to WHO epidemiologist, Dr. Maria van Kerkhove, the technical lead on the pandemic.
In fact, there are three types of COVID-19 cases that aren’t apparent.