Who was that unmasked man?

“Trump tours factory – but no mask for him,” May 6 news story

Despite numerous articles calling for bipartisanship in the coronavirus response, criticism of President Donald Trump appeared in many virus articles.

While I find Trump to be obnoxious and ignorant, I am glad that a president on a tour to calm the country does not wear the mask, and find it comical but standard that it took three New York Times writers to tell us Trump did not wear a mask!

We are stuck with the masks to protect the vulnerable, but the class of people wearing masks to signal their virtue and resistance wore out their welcome with me when they actively cheered for fatalities on Easter to give Trump a black eye.

More disappointing is that the Denver Post published two letters suggesting that lockdown opponents could be refused lifesaving treatment if they contract the coronavirus.

Where is the bipartisanship we speak of ?

“Should we be wearing masks outside?” May 5 commentary

I’m really angered by armchair pundits — into which category Vincent Carroll, not bearing the title of Dr. of anything, squarely falls. And I am angered at The Denver Post for allowing publication of this article. Free speech be damned when idiots are running around not distancing, not wearing masks, and listening to biased opinions — or the president.

Thank you for bringing this point of view into the conversation.

So often I read about non-mask wearers (like myself ) as gun-toting, Confederate flag-waving rednecks who spew hate at police officers, health care workers, etc. That is not me. I am not a raging hater who wants to shoot someone or cough on someone. I don’t want people to die. I simply choose to not wear a mask during exercise, for many reasons: inconvenient, uncomfortable, and unsure they actually do anything (especially outside).

As an avid cyclist, who rides dirt trails and canyon roads (not parks), I bristle when I am told I’m making others unsafe by the very act of first, simply being outside; second, riding a bike, walking and hiking; and third, not wearing a mask while exercising. Have we considered the physical ramifications of restricting breathing with a high heart rate, inhaling what we exhale, breathing heavily through fabric while exercising?

From my kitchen windows, I watch runners and cyclists climb a hill. I have seen several fit-looking people reach the top only to double over while grabbing at their mask and gasping for air. There is no one around them. Who are they saving while they injure themselves? These folks are like the motorcyclist in Vincent’s article, who wore a mask but left off the helmet.

We need to reconsider the social shame we are heaping on each other for being outside without masks.

The estimable Mr. Carroll has chosen to risk his life (and of those he encounters), to avoid the minor inconvenience of wearing a mask outdoors. He paints a scenario where he studiously gives passers-by a wide berth, gaily smiling at those foolish enough to don protection.

The rationale for his decision? Some experts’ opinion that outdoors respiration is rapidly dissipated and will not spread beyond the confines of social distancing.

According to an article in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, a virus-laden aerosol may disperse up to 13 feet, although its efficacy is questionable at that distance. Be that as it may, six feet may not suffice when a runner blows by you in the park.

And then there’s the sidewalk sandwich. If you go maskless in your neighborhood, you may find yourself between a rock and a hard place: caught between a wall of parked cars and a fenced yard, just as a cadre of unprotected neighbors bears down on you.

Truth is, we don’t know how far a viable virus dose will spread from our breaths, how long it lingers, or when it disperses below a dangerous level. For all concerned, the safest solution is for each of us to wear a mask outdoors.

Help flatten, not fatten, the curve.