Better to mask up than drink up to stay safe
Here in Ohio, we hit another daily record on Thursday for new COVID-19 cases, with 2,425 reported positive tests – the sixth time in little more than a week the record has been topped. Wednesday also saw a new record high for hospitalizations – the most serious cases. Colder weather and the approaching holidays have public-health experts worried about this coronavirus wave picking up even more momentum.
Do these facts sound like reasons to start being less careful about stopping the spread of the disease?
They apparently do to Republicans in the Ohio Senate, who are bent on undoing the 10 p.m. curfew on alcohol sales that Gov. Mike Dewine pushed the Ohio Liquor Control Commission to impose in July. The curfew came as bars and restaurants began to reopen in the summer and patrons at some promptly responded by packing the places and partying late into the night.
The city of Columbus, which imposed a 10 p.m. curfew before the liquor commission took statewide action, already has repealed its curfew.
The Senate wants the whole state to follow suit. Senate Bill 374, introduced Oct. 15, would allow all liquor permit holders to return to the operating hours to which they were entitled before Dewine’s March 9 order declaring a public health emergency. It also would stop any ongoing enforcement actions against permit holders who violated the curfew, unless they have other violations as well.
Restaurants and bars across the state have suffered painful losses from closures and curfew and they’re desperate for relief. Politicians know this; the curfew-repeal bill has 22 co-sponsors, with Senate President Larry Obhof of Medina at the head of the line.
We understand it, too. No one wants to see beloved establishments go under, taking jobs, local tax revenue and community traditions with them. But the painful reality is that letting down our collective guard against the coronavirus too soon could end up providing only temporary relief, which could be followed by a punishing resurgence that would leave businesses – not to mention the thousands of Ohioans who could get sick and die – worse off than ever.
The pandemic won’t stop hurting the economy until it’s over, and it won’t be over until enough people do what is required to stamp it out.
Which brings us to masks and the fact that too many people still refuse to wear them or insist on wearing them uselessly, with their noses exposed.
Masks are not a guarantee of avoiding the spread of coronavirus – at this point, nothing is except life in a bubble. But a mask can, at minimum, inhibit the movement of virus-bearing material from person to person.
A more sophisticated analysis comes from the science journal Nature, which wrote in early October about studies comparing places where masking is widespread to those where it isn’t. Caveats and exceptions abound, the authors said – scientists are still learning, and comparing different groups following different rules and living in different conditions is complicated.
Nevertheless, study after study has found evidence that widespread mask-wearing results in fewer COVID-19 cases.
That’s what everyone wants, and what we need to happen if we are to once again enjoy all the lively, crowded activities we used to take for granted.
Whatever rules the state settles on for alcohol sales, wearing masks and staying six feet apart can limit the damage.