Is the “reopening” happening too fast?
Trying to answer that question means confronting a sea of ever-changing information about COVID-19.
Obsessing on its risks obscures a more important point. Even if the rules continue to melt away, and if the trend lines continue to be positive, Hoosiers who take those as signs they can disregard the simple steps for preventing infection will be working against the common good and undermining Indiana’s chance to truly keep ahead of this pandemic.
There were signs of hope last week in a new study by the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI. Even as cases continued to rise in much of the south and west, Indiana’s new cases and deaths continue to fall.
“It is likely that the virus has slowed due to our collective efforts to be safer, engage in social distancing, and reduce transmission by wearing masks and adhering to higher hand- and surface-hygiene standards,” wrote Fairbanks lead scientist Dr. Nir Menachemi.
But as The Journal Gazette’s Niki Kelly reported, there are some worrisome spikes in northeast Indiana’s data. And there’s still the possibility of an upturn if Hoosiers take the relaxing of regulations as an excuse to stop using masks and social distancing. And that, let’s face it, has been happening all along – diluting the onerous, steady work many Hoosiers have been doing to slow the infection rate.
Most places you go, it seems fewer than half the people are wearing masks and keeping to themselves. And the other half are carelessly or deliberately ignoring those guidelines.
Is it defiance? Misplaced machismo? Ignorance? Convenience? It doesn’t matter.
People who refuse to wear masks in public are pushing blithely into the unknown without a thought for their fellow Hoosiers’ safety.
Representatives from IU Health, Parkview Health, Lutheran Health and the Allen County Department of Health joined Fort Wayne and Allen County officials for a local status report last week.
Parkview reported an upsurge in COVID-19 cases; Lutheran said its spike was smaller. There has been growing certainty about the efficacy of masks. But otherwise, their message about what needs to be done has hardly varied.
It really has made a difference, said County Commissioner President Nelson Peters – “the social distancing, washing your hands, the hand-sanitizers really do matter, and it’s important that we continue to try to follow them.”
Parkview’s Dr. Jason Row said recent upsurges in cases and hospitalizations at his facilities seem to mirror some dropped caution as stay-at-home rules are relaxed.
Mask-wearing is particularly crucial, he said, and has little to do with how at risk you are to the disease. Wearing a mask has nothing to do with being “afraid,” Row said.
“When I wear a mask, what it should tell you is that I care enough about you that I am willing to put up with the discomfort and the social stigma of wearing a mask.”
In the big scheme of trying to restart our economy, get our kids back to school and reclaim our lives, it is not too much to ask.
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