Wear mask to protect yourself and others

Wearing masks is as fundamental as the golden rule of doing unto others as you wish they would do unto you.

Taken from the July 1 order by Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine, the need to wear masks is as fundamental as the golden rule of doing unto others as you wish they would do unto you.

“Wearing a mask shows that you care about others, and that you are committed to protecting the lives of those around you,” Levine stated.

The order was signed by Levine under the Disease Prevention and Control Act and mandates that face coverings must be worn whenever anyone leaves home, including outdoors in situations where social distancing is impossible. Face coverings also are required in any indoor location where members of the public are permitted; waiting for, riding on, driving, or operating public transportation or paratransit or while in a taxi, private car service or ride-sharing vehicle; obtaining services from health care providers; and engaged in work, whether at the workplace or offsite, when interacting in-person with any member of the public.

Previous state orders only required the wearing of masks by customers and employees inside businesses.

“This mask-wearing order is essential to stopping the recent increase in COVID-19 cases we have seen in Pennsylvania,” Gov. Tom Wolf said. “Those hot spots can be traced to situations where Pennsylvanians were not wearing masks or practicing social distancing — two practices that must be adhered to if we want to maintain the freedoms we have in place under our reopening.”

Each of the state’s mitigation efforts has helped to slow the spread of COVID-19, kept health care systems from being overwhelmed and allowed for the measured reopening to proceed, the state announcement said. But, with every county in the green phase of reopening, complacency cannot be the norm.

More and more health experts have called for mask wearing, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who told a Senate panel: “Americans who don’t wear masks may propagate the further spread of infection.”

That message has been reinforced by Berks County’s “Do Your Part-Stop the Spread” campaign, which has been urging such precautions for months.

Montgomery County jumped on the mask initiative with the “Mask Up, Montco” campaign to remind everyone in the county to wear face coverings.

“Here in Montgomery County, we need everyone to wear a mask or a face covering anytime you are close to someone who is not a household contact. That is the single most important thing that you can do. The data is now overwhelming,” said county Commissioners’ Chairwoman Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, who as a physician has been at the forefront of providing information about the pandemic.

Arkoosh said many business owners are working “incredibly hard to make their business or restaurant safe.” But some establishment and patrons are not as careful.

“The people that are flouting the guidance and saying that this is all made up and that none of this matters, they don’t deserve your business. So please take your business to a place that’s doing it right,” Arkoosh said.

The habit of everyone wearing a face covering in public would have seemed ludicrous just six months ago, and true, the sight of people walking down a street with nose and mouth covered by a kerchief, a surgical mask or a brightly logoed covering still seems surreal.

But that surreal image of everyone in public wearing masks is necessary if this region, state and nation are to stay on a trend of beating down a resurgence of COVID-19.

The medical experts from the top down are consistent in their message: Mask up to keep the virus down. Do it for yourself and those around you. Stay safe.