“Who was that masked man?”
Before this year, 2020, that question would likely bring to mind something like The Lone Ranger, or for the nerdy ones among us, they would think of their favourite masked Avenger or other superhero (other than Superman, of course, who needs no mask …)
In these days of COVID-19, the question is more literal.
You may see someone on the street wearing a mask, and unless you know them really well or their eyes and hair, you will very likely ask who was that masked man (or woman).
The issue of wearing a mask or not has become a real issue, thanks to that despisable and hateful virus that has disrupted the lives of every person on Earth, not to mention caused major economic hardship and medical emergencies on an unprecedented scale.
The pandemic is not done by any stretch, which is a very disheartening thing to realize in mid-July, after we’ve been locked down since mid-March.
We were hearing about the coronavirus long before March, of course, but when that virus began spreading, all of our lives were changed and we may never ever know what “normal” is any more.
The question that has arisen lately is whether or not we should or need to wear a mask. Here in Saskatchewan, which has among the lowest numbers of COVID in Canada, it doesn’t seem to really be much of an issue … except of course, the numbers have been coming back up.
Even with the recent new cases of COVID, our numbers are still far, far below what they are in Ontario and Quebec, where the issue of wearing a mask is much more front-of-mind.
In Quebec, which has had high infection numbers for quite a while now, they have now made it mandatory for indoor spaces.
There is already a video of a man being forcibly taken down by police at a Tim Horton’s for adamantly refusing to wear a mask, and this is not exactly promoting mask-wearing in a positive fashion (in my mind, anyway.)
The president of the Saskatchewan Medical Association, Dr. Barb Konstantynowicz of Regina, sent out an open letter on Tuesday that touches on the issue of mask-wearing in Saskatchewan.
This is what she says: “If you can, please wear a mask when physical distancing is not possible. Wash your hands frequently. Limit your social interactions. Stay home wherever possible. Test immediately upon the onset of symptoms.”
She goes on to point out that “we are not out of the woods yet” and we need to stay safe and kind to others.
We are not yet in the position where mask-wearing needs to be made mandatory, and I for one am deeply thankful for that.
I also don’t want us to get to that point, and I am hoping upon hope that our infection numbers do not grow or explode like they are in the United States, where it seems to be right out of control. Keeping in mind we need to keep our numbers down, perhaps wearing a mask if distancing is not possible may be reasonable. I’d rather it wasn’t necessary or required.
