WHY I DON’T WANT FREEDOM FROM MASKS

THERE has been some debate as to whether we should ditch masks for good after so-called ‘freedom day’, and last week I tweeted my stance: in hospitals and GP surgeries, I’d like to see masks here to stay.

For years we have known that vulnerable patients, such as those having chemotherapy, pick up infections in hospital waiting rooms, especially in the flu season. And as we all know, mask-wearing and social distancing all but stamped out flu last winter.

Some people seem to be worried that wearing a mask in hospital would make the long waits even more unpleasant and uncomfortable. But I think it’s a small price to pay for the hundreds of thousands of potentially fatal infections we would be preventing.

It’s the norm in Canada, and no one seems to mind much. Let me know what you think. Would it really be such a hardship?