Do you wear the mask or not?
For more than a year, the issue has been out there. At first the recommendations were to stay home and not bother with face coverings, because only the medical-grade masks did any good and health care workers needed them. A few weeks into the pandemic, that changed, as experts blessed the preventive value of basic cloth face coverings; later, the shortages of PPE began to ease.
Still, there were questions. How important is that piece of cloth or scrap of plastic and paper?
The information has varied. What kind of mask? Was it worn appropriately? Indoors or outdoors or how far away? The experts sought to cut down the spread of droplets that could carry covid-19 from person to person in public. The slogan was “my mask protects you, your mask protects me” — which made mask-wearing a public virtue and rejecting them a selfish act of aggression.
This meant lots of debate — often because words that are used interchangeably don’t always mean the same thing. Masks were linked to terms like mandate, guidance, recommendation, requirement and suggestion. They were all used with authority but some carried little, leading to viral videos of showdowns between adamant customers and many a front-line worker trying to enforce a policy decided far above their pay grade.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its guidance last week to reflect the changing landscape of infectiousness as vaccines are available. The fully vaccinated are free to take off their masks in most places, it said. That means both doses of Pfizer or Moderna or one of Johnson & Johnson, and a full two weeks for the vaccine to take hold.
Not vaccinated? Keep your mask on, the CDC says. Pennsylvania agrees. State guidelines were modified in response.
But that confusing jumble of words can still cause problems. What one person interprets as freedom has been bumping up against what another says is caution for a year and that isn’t going to stop.
For one thing, businesses are still free to set their own rules for what happens on their property. Giant Eagle still is requiring customers to wear masks. They aren’t alone. City Books on Pittsburgh’s North Side is doing the same. LA Fitness is asking members to keep masks on. Planet Fitness says it is OK while working out but please wear them at other times in their buildings.
Those case-by-case demands and the difference between a request and a requirement are as frustrating as they are confusing. Is it OK or not? Safe or not? Why isn’t there a simple answer?
Because the number of vaccinated people isn’t high enough yet. Pennsylvania — like federal authorities — is shooting for 70% of the adult population to be fully vaccinated, and while there is progress being made, that level hasn’t been met.
The best way to cut through the confusion is to become part of the solution — and get vaccinated.
— The Tribune-Review, Greensburg/TNS
