Mask mandate needed in Yuma County for now

It’s controversial, but until cases drop, people should mask up

It might be controversial, but the mask mandate is the right thing to do right now, considering the fact that our case counts here in Yuma County continue to soar.

Now, we understand that people might not like this decision to require masks. And we get it … nobody likes to be told what to do, personal freedoms, etc. We understand that.

However, wearing a mask can save lives – both yours and those around you.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID-19 spreads primarily through respiratory droplets when someone who is infected coughs, sneezes or talks. Cloth masks limit the spread of those droplets, working as an effective way to reduce the transmission of the virus.

Wearing a mask can keep people out of Yuma Regional Medical Center, which last weekend was forced to activate its Tier 3 emergency response plan as cases soar. On Tuesday, there were 121 COVID patients hospitalized at YRMC, with 19 in the ICU.

Wearing a mask can help keep people off ventilators, of which there are a limited supply in Yuma. On Tuesday, YRMC had 21 vents in use, with 25 additional vents still available.

Wearing a mask can keep people from joining a growing list of positive cases here that shows no sign of slowing down. On Tuesday, there were 184 new cases, bringing our total to 4,940 confirmed cases in Yuma County, and 69 deaths.

For perspective, on June 1, we had 1,289 positive cases and just 17 deaths.

And let’s look, for a moment at the zip code information. As of Tuesday, here’s where the 4,940 cases were in Yuma County:

• Gadsden/85336: 257

• Roll/85347: 1-5

• San Luis/85349: 306

• Somerton/85350: 1,413

• Tacna/85352: 6-10

• Wellton/85356: 47

• Yuma/85364: 1,684

• Yuma/85365: 649

• Foothills/85367: 154

Maybe those numbers just don’t register, because people think, “Meh. It won’t happen to me! Who cares about the numbers?!”

The nurses, doctors and front line workers certainly do.

Consider those staff members at YRMC who are struggling to care for COVID patients. Those health care workers are wearing masks for hours on end, day in, day out, to help our sickest Yumans.

Think about those hours. And then, consider how long you have to wear your mask while you run errands. What is it, an hour or two? It pales in comparison to what those YRMC employees have to do.

Please, wear your masks – and let’s bring those case numbers back down in Yuma County.