OPINION
PART I By I. smiley G. Calderón | smileygcalderon@gmail.com
Y
ou can’t go anywhere nowadays without seeing a multitude of half-covered concerned faces with their big sweaty brows and squinty little eyes moving to and fro. It’s today’s mask culture, and some say it’s here to stay for good. Aargh. Really? Yes, really. And it’s all because of that horrible ubiquitously pernicious novel SARS-CoV-2 virus. This disease has already swiftly killed over 100,000 Americans these past few months. Ordinary daily life, with all of its mundane activities and simple public pleasantries, has become very complicated very quickly. Now when you’re out in public and hear the guy right behind you cough or sneeze, your fight or flight adrenaline response kicks in. You wonder if he’s spewing coronavirus or not. And immediately, before you even turn around - you’re hoping he’s wearing a mask. Why? Because despite how stupid that mask makes you feel or look, deep down inside, you know that it is the only effective protective measure against this horrific respiratory contagion when you’re out in public around others. It is. And that’s because we know this coronavirus is actively spread as an aerosol in the air as microscopic droplets that come out of an infected person when coughing, sneezing, huffing, and puffing - or even just talking. And that’s a fact. And here’s another disturbing fact: this virus is highly infectious - super contagious - much more contagious than the flu. It spreads like a damn wildfire on a hot scorching summer’s day. But the real tricky deadly part is that some infected people don’t even know they are infected
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| JUNE 2020
| FRESNO FLYER |
and contagious until they infect others who show symptoms. And by then, it’s already too late. We have no known effective cure for COVID-19; we don’t have a vaccine yet either. If you’re one of the unlucky ones who develop COVID-19 symptoms, your nightmare ensues. Experts from the WHO (World Health Organization) and CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommend the public use of masks and face coverings in a risk-based approach to contain and prevent coronavirus spreading. Cities, counties, and even some states across the U.S. have made wearing masks in public mandatory (although many have rescinded such orders due to public and political pressure) because it is proven to hinder the spread of COVID-19. And where laws fail to enforce and protect public health and the safety of its citizens, responsible private companies like Costco Wholesale have made wearing masks obligatory whether you like it or not. But some people just aren’t having it. They’d rather die than wear a mask. Literally. That same ‘patriot’ who vows he would do ‘anything’ to protect his country is also the first guy you’ll see refusing to wear a mask. Because ‘it’s a free country’ or because it ‘infringes upon his rights,’ or some other bogus excuse. It’s not about his freedoms or rights - It’s about everyone else’s right to stay healthy and alive.
In a video shared on social media, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, tells viewers that “wearing a cloth-based covering while in public is an important practice to slow the spread of the coronavirus.” He says it simply: “Me wearing a cloth-based covering protects you, and you wearing a clothbased covering protects me.” America’s top immunologist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, a prominent member of the White House Coronavirus Taskforce and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), also emphasized the importance of wearing face masks in a live TV interview: “I wear it for the reason that I believe it is effective…I do it when I’m in public for the reasons: A) I want to protect myself and protect others, and also because [B] I want to make it be a symbol for people to see that that’s the kind of thing you should be doing.” So, if you care about your neighbor and your country, wear a mask. If you care about your family and yourself, wear a mask. It’s as simple as that. At this point, if you don’t wear one while you’re out in public, you just don’t care. And stop with all of the stupid excuses about personal freedoms, too - your personal freedoms end when they endanger others. With this novel coronavirus, you can be infected and contagious at any time without even knowing it. That makes everyone a potential threat - including you - despite how healthy you promise you are.
“But some people just aren’t having it. They’d rather die than wear a mask. Literally.”
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Dr. Fauci made it crystal clear in his interview about wearing masks in public: “It’s sort of respect for another person and have that other person respect you. You wear a mask, and they wear a mask you protect each other.” Simple neighborly respect. Why is that so hard for Americans? Mask-it or casket is what I always say. But, anti-maskers have a million excuses. It’s unhealthy, they say. Well, so is getting infected by a voracious novel coronavirus. They think this whole pandemic is just hype - and they’re not buying it. After all, here in Fresno County, we’ve ‘only’ had some 35 documented COVID-19 deaths out of a population of 1 million. That’s a mortality rate of a mere 0.0035%, right? So, why is everyone taking this ‘virus hoax’ so seriously? Pastor Mark Wallace, who spent a month hospitalized with coronavirus at Fresno’s Kaiser Permanente, had this to say to these naysayers when finally leaving the hospital in a wheelchair: “Everyone has to just take a deep breath and realize that …it’s not the government taking our freedom…if they see this side of it, what I went through. They’re just trying to protect as many thousands of people as they can from having to go through the same thing - I wouldn’t wish what I went through on my very worst enemy in the world.” Tammy Wallace, his wife, who contracted coronavirus but only experienced a fever and then fully recovered without any hospitalization, couldn’t agree more: “When it touches someone in your family like the way it touches ours, you can’t wear a mask long enough…”
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