Navigating Our New Normal - To Mask or Not to Mask

As a constant viewer of news on a local, state, national, and international level, the coronavirus was on my radar screen when it was making its way through the citizens of China. As I watched the pandemic decimate the people there, I turned to my daughter and asked her to order us some masks through Amazon. This was in January.

As the days went by and the news grew ever more devastating, I would often turn to my daughter and ask, “where are our masks”. Each day I would pepper her for a status on our order and each day she would sarcastically remind me that I could “place the order myself”. The UPS driver arrived one day to deliver a box at my front door and inside were my much-anticipated masks. By the time they arrived at my door, the virus had made its way to the doors of the United States.

I held off using my masks immediately because our leaders (the government, the CDC, and the medical community) were telling us we did not need to do so. After seeing the number of cases in the U.S. go from a few thousand to several hundred thousand within a few weeks, I had seen enough and decided to start wearing my mask. The level of the spread of this virus during such a short period of time made me realize that I could not wait any longer.

Although I looked weird and I stood out from the crowd, I began wearing my mask each time I stepped outside of my door. Gone were my concerns of what others would think. My main objective was to keep myself safe because I unfortunately fall into the high-risk category, I suffer from seasonal allergies which has turned into sinusitis and acute bronchitis in the past. This means I must be vigilant in taking my allergy medications and avoiding others who may be ill. Because of my respiratory conditions, if I were to contract the coronavirus, I am not sure if I could bounce back as quickly as others, so my objective is to do everything I can do to avoid getting it.

On yesterday, I sat on my couch and shook my head as I listened to the latest news coverage on masks. The leading health expert on this pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said we should all be wearing masks to protect ourselves. This contrasted with the President saying that wearing masks should be “optional”. I found this divergence to be mind boggling. The last time the U. S. saw a pandemic of this proportion was the 1918 flu pandemic. Not wearing a mask at that time was considered illegal, so how can it now be considered an option?

This nonsense is combined with seeing some elected leaders show real leadership by telling their citizens to shelter in place while others had to be dragged - kicking and screaming - before they would come to that conclusion and alert their people just a few days ago. Another astonishing comment from the White House was that they expect over 200,000 people in the U.S. to die from the coronavirus. This is unconscionable as another person dying should not be acceptable by anyone, especially our government. The time will come later for all of us to address the failed leadership of our elected governance, but for now, each of us must do what we can do to keep our families and ourselves safe. No, we cannot do anything about the countless number of people around the country who are now hospitalized or those who are at home battling this virus, however, we can do a lot to make sure we do not contribute to this number.

First, stay at home. I know it is hard, but only venture out for food, medicine, and to walk your dog. Next, practice social distancing – in your home or while you are out – keep 6 feet between you and the next person. Allocate the time needed to properly wash your hands frequently. Take a moment to wipe down surfaces in your home that are frequently touched such as doorknobs, the refrigerator, the remote control, your phone, etc. Lastly and most importantly, wear your mask. If you choose to venture outside, protect yourself. If you do not have a mask, you can make masks for yourself and your family.

We can no longer wait for someone else to tell us it is ok to protect ourselves. South Cobb - let’s do our part to stay safe, to help flatten this curve, and to get our country back to normal.

Be well and be safe as we Navigate Our New Normal.

#Shelia4Cobb