Editorial

We have learned much since the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded last year. We learned that the virus is sneaky, that it is transmitted by droplets from one person to the next and that those droplets can linger in enclosed spaces. We learned that the virus wreaks havoc in the body and we don’t know much yet about the long-term effects. We have learned that we can mitigate the pandemic by putting a mask over our nose and mouth and we have one powerful weapon at our disposal — vaccinations — that equip our bodies with the tools to fight off an infection if one still were to be infected by the virus.

However, what we see these days is a scary scenario of Alaska running out of hospital and ICU beds as more and more COVID patients fill up the medical facilities in Anchorage, MatSu and Fairbanks.

While many are sick and tired of the precautions that state and local leaders have put upon us last year to ward off the worst, they were well worth it as Alaska has not had the severity of outbreaks that other states had seen, and was even leading for a while in vaccinations.

We know that vaccinations work and we know that masking in public is an excellent strategy to stem the tide of infections. We also know that testing caught many cases before people could spread the virus around.

Stubborn insistence on “individual freedoms” need to stop being a consideration when the lives of many are at stake. How is your individual freedom curtailed when you’re asked to put on a mask or get vaccinated? Is it uncomfortable, yes, no doubt, but it’s the right thing to do given what we know now about this virus. We ought to do what’s right and not force our leaders to impose mask or vaccination mandates on us which then start the chorus of whining about government overreach. Mandates will come if we don’t act maturely and do what we can to curb the spread. —D.H.—