OPINION
Public Health is not Political
It’s time that we stand back and take a look at our reactions to public health-related precautions to prevent spread of COVID-19. Health precautions are not effected by a person’s politics any more than a virus is. Neither has anything to do with a person’s opinions or political affiliations. And unlike other public safety precautions, such as wearing a safety belt or a motorcycle helmet, public health precautions are not just about protecting yourself, they’re about protecting the community. Even people who feel that those other rules are too restrictive and that it’s up to them to decide how much risk they’re willing to take, frequently ask their passengers to follow them on the theory that they have the right to endanger their own life, but not someone else’s. Many people both in Valdez and around the world are wearing masks, though they don’t like them, though they’re uncomfortable, though perhaps people they admire are refusing to, because they feel they have a right to endanger themselves, but not others. But many people aren’t. The question is why.
- Because the virus is a hoax? That’s a pretty big conspiracy, a global conspiracy, one that’s been going on for months. To what end? What about people here in Valdez, are they pretending to be infected?
- The danger is being exaggerated? Maybe. But here’s the real question. If there’s even the slightest possibility that you could be the cause of someone else becoming ill; someone vulnerable who could die or suffer debilitating consequences even if they recover, why would you not do whatever you can to protect them?
- Many people claim that they don’t wear masks due to a health condition. Here’s the truth. People who have conditions that cause them to have difficulty breathing, need to wear masks or face-shields for their own protection if they’re going to go out in public. They’re part of the vulnerable population that COVID-19 is most dangerous to. If whatever your condition is makes you unable to wear a mask for long enough to do your errand, then you should consider using a face-shield instead or having someone else run the errand for you. As a person who is claustrophobic and has severe allergies, I understand that it’s incredibly uncomfortable to wear a mask. What I don’t understand is why discomfort is a justifiable reason for putting other people at risk.
- The CDC recommended against wearing masks. Yes they did, back in the day when we were all sheltering in place and we didn’t have enough masks for medical personnel, the CDC recommended not wearing a mask unless you were sick. That has changed. Here’s what they said the end of last month. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cloth-face-cover-guidance.html
- I don’t have it. How do you know? There are many asymptomatic carriers (people who have active virus in their system but show no symptoms of the disease) who have no idea that they can infect other people. You have no evidence you are not one of them unless you have been tested. Even then, all that proves is that you weren’t infected at the time you took the test. It’s entirely possible to become infected within minutes of being tested, especially if you are ignoring the guidelines designed to protect you.
Valdez announced its very first case of COVID-19 on May 22nd, approximately a month after the start of State of Alaska Re-opening, Phase 1. As of July 3rd, Valdez has had six cases diagnosed, two of whom were Valdez residents. This is hardly surprising. Valdez is uniquely well-suited to isolation because of the limited number of points of entry. With no flights in and out and no ferry service, there was the one road and that’s all. Most outsiders were understandably reluctant to quarantine for two weeks in order to visit Valdez. So it makes sense that we had no cases during that time and almost immediately did have cases once those precautions were discontinued. What is surprising is that some people didn’t expect that they’d need to be more cautious, not less at that point.
The restriction was lifted in order to open up our tourist and fishing dependent economy. People here were hurting; they needed to work and do business. Many of us rely on summer income to get us through the winter. Relief monies from local, state and federal governments can only stretch so far, certainly not indefinitely. That’s all understandable.
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What’s not understandable is the fact that so many Valdez residents saw the lifting of those restrictions as a signal that the pandemic is over and it’s time for everything to go back to normal. They stopped wearing masks, if they ever did so. They stopped social distancing, again, if they ever did so. They started mask-shaming people who indicated their concern for others as well as themselves by doing these things. Today the grocery store, the gas stations, every public place in Valdez is full of people, many of whom are not locals and have been in places with a lot more cases of the virus than we have had thus far, who are congregating, ignoring guidelines, going everywhere mask-less, often in groups. Local businesses vary as much as local citizens in the seriousness with which they take City of Valdez and the Valdez COVID-19 Unified Command’s guidelines intended to keep us all safe.
With the restrictions lifted, we almost immediately had our first case. Two locals have tested positive. That means they caught the virus from someone from outside. How many others did and don’t know because they have no symptoms and they haven’t been tested? How many people did they spread it to? We don’t know. No one knows. That’s why it’s so important to behave as if you and the people around you are capable of infecting other people at all times. That’s what Universal Precautions and Infection Control are all about. We all grew up being taught to wash our hands and cover our coughs and sneezes, to clean and disinfect our homes. This is no different. It’s just a little more thorough and more dangerous to ignore. It’s not difficult. Inconvenient, yes. Difficult, no. Our dedicated medical care providers are doing everything they can to help keep our community safe. They are also asking everyone to PLEASE MASK UP when in public places.
Excerpted from a news release from Alaska Marine Highway System:
Testing is a helpful tool for diagnosing COVID-19, but is not perfect. For example, people often will not test positive for several days after they are initially infected. This is why it is important to continue practicing social distancing and wearing a mask even if you have had a recent negative test. (Bold added by SVN)
