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Letter to the editor

 

To mask or not to mask

 

In Saturday’s Tryon Daily Bulletin, Stuart R. Goldstein wrote a full page “Letter to the Editor” giving all the reasons people shouldn’t be wearing masks. Mr. Goldstein states that even Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said masks were totally unnecessary.

What Mr. Goldstein didn’t say was that on May 9, a YouTube channel called Voice of the Majority uploaded a clip of Dr. Fauci telling CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jonathan LaPook that there’s no reason people in the U.S. should wear a mask. One glaring problem: the clip is from a March interview.

Does science change? Mr. Goldstein says “no.” If that were the case, we’d still be thinking the earth is flat. In early April, based on the most recent science, the CDC updated its guidelines to recommend Americans wear masks in public.

Furthermore, according to the latest science, Covid-19 droplets from a sneeze or cough can remain in the air up to three hours. Common sense, as well as science, tells me that if an infected person sneezes and both he and the people nearby are all wearing masks, there is less chance of the infection being spread. This is especially important since a person can spread the virus without showing any symptoms.

I fear Mr. Goldstein’s letter is all the encouragement some people will need to throw away their masks even though we have been told repeatedly by the country’s top scientists that the consequences can be deadly. Would the Tryon Daily Bulletin print an article from someone recommending Russian Roulette? I think on May 22, they did just that.

 

Helen Trevathan Clement

Columbus