San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
MASKS VS. ECONOMY
Our panel of experts addresses whether an aversion to wearing face coverings is holding back the economy.
YES
Mask-wearing and other behaviors that lower the spread of the coronavirus lead to conditions under which businesses can safely open, consumers feel comfortable patronizing brick-and-mortar businesses, travel is feasible, and schools can hold limited classes. To the extent that maskwearing is effective in slowing the spread of the virus, extreme actions that would be highly disruptive to the economy, such as lockdowns, can be avoided.
YES
Our goal should be to protect the most vulnerable while we get on with our lives and work the best we can. I wish that earlier on President Trump had said, “Here is something simple we all can do that will make a difference. I’m going to wear a mask, and you should, too.” If he had, our nation (and his prospects for reelection) would be in better shape today.
YES
To mask or not to mask is the single issue most responsible for holding back the economy. This phantom First Amendment fiction is its own epidemic. The mask is the only realistic tool that people possess to combat the virus. If people would mask up, the virus spread would reduce, people could interact more and businesses could open and stabilize.
ECONOMISTS
NO
Mask-wearing isn’t preventing the economic recovery. Politicians with competing interests are holding back the economic recovery. The problem is medical “experts,” the World Health Organization, and politicians continuously shifting regulations, creating confusion and sending mixed messages about when and how to wear masks. If masks work, then mandate that people wear masks 100 percent of the time and fully reopen the economy. If they don’t work, then don’t mandate them and find another solution.
YES
Stemming COVID-19 spread is essential to economic recovery. While Americans want the economy to rebound, many don’t want to wear masks. Out of nearly 6,000 Americans polled in a Brookings Institute study, 40 percent say it is their right not to wear a mask. With health experts citing the benefits, economists note deployment of masks in public can advance the economy into a POST-COVID-19 recovery. Best we wear masks, slow COVID-19 and get the economy back on track.
NO
Mask-wearing alone isn’t holding back the economy. Unemployment, remote learning, the pending election, lack of additional stimulus, and overall uncertainty are all playing a part. An increase of proper mask-wearing can be a tool to help speed up economic recovery and prevent further shutdowns if combined with social distancing, hand washing, staying home if sick, and other CDC health guidelines. We remain in an unprecedented time. If wearing a mask can help get people back to work or back to school or save a life, then we should do what we can to help our country recover.
YES
If we slow the spread of the virus, the economy will open up. Even if it is not the mask itself that slows the spread, the symbol of being cautious and following government guidance will allow for the government to open up the economy. Coupled with a stimulus package, the opening up of the economy will restore jobs and boost small businesses up enough to survive.
EXECUTIVES
YES
The refusal of some to wear masks actually risks both health and the economy. As reported by Nature, the COVID-19 forecasting team at the University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation led a study with results that indicate we could save more than 100,000 U.S. lives through February if 95 percent of Americans wore masks. Not only would lives be saved, but the numbers of infections could be dramatically reduced. That could permit reopening of closed businesses, which would improve the economy.