A face mask is just science, not a political statement
Pitched battles — verbal and literal brawls — are breaking out at state capitals and in store aisles about the reopening of America.
Most disturbing is that people are arguing about efforts to control the spread of the virus in political terms, rather than as science and the reality that public health measures are only effective with widespread buy-in.
A recent meme illustrates: Not wearing a mask in 2020 is the new MAGA hat.
A recent study by the
Big Cities Health Coalition could help reel the debates back to a focus on what people are willing to do and what the economy will bear, for the health of all. According to the study, 45 days of people complying with stay-at-home orders in Baltimore could have spared 2,287 lives.
For Chicago, the number is 10,635 lives. Kansas City: 1,922. Austin: 4,988. Denver: 2,842. Seattle: 8,819.
Overall, the study determined that 200,000 deaths would be prevented, along with 2.1 million hospitalizations. And that’s just data for 30 cities.
The numbers expand or contract depending on the number of days in the stayat-home order. At the very least, it’s interesting fodder for a gauge of public behavior. The study offers a Hunger Games-style reminder of why the nation closed most businesses in the first place. The goal has always been and should continue to be saving lives.
It’s pure politics to frame debates as a standoff between those who see government overreach in the orders versus the sheep amongst us, cowards who will bow to any decree, no matter how detrimental to pocketbook and pride.
The study supports a rational approach; opening of business alongside ramped up testing for the virus and contact tracing.
Bear in mind that ample studies and evidence show most people believe that staying at home or limiting their interactions with others is the right course of action, even as they are hyper aware of their own plummeting savings and inability to pay bills. But their voices are lost among the shrill.
Here’s a snippet from one conspiracy pusher that promotes under the tagline We Are NOT In This Together: “The power-grabbing politicians who used the phony Covid plague as an excuse to destroy our jobs, close our businesses, rob us of our freedom, and wreck our economy knew exactly what they were doing...And they did it intentionally.”
That’s the chorus pressing people to believe that it’s not COVID-19 that is causing cataclysmic stock market plunges, businesses to post closed forever signs and unemployment figures so dire that discussions of a depression are not out of line. They blame social distancing and municipal orders to stay-at-home for the economic fallout of the coronavirus; rather than the virus itself.
It’s a dangerous switch-up.
The very nature of the virus mocks such views. We are in this together whether those who like to shout about tyranny and government overreach like it or not.
Years from now, statisticians, epidemiologists and sociologists will converge with the luxury of time and vetted data to accurately look back and see where humanity failed or saved itself.
The present offers no such luxury. The summer of 2020 and beyond will be a measure of our humanity and intelligence. Who is willing to adjust, to adapt in both business and personal life based on science and what we continue to learn about COVID-19. And who just wants to go their own way, biting on political spin, oblivious or uncaring that their actions could literally cause the death of another person.