update on Masking for fear of SARS CoV2
It has been six months since I posted a thought on COVID and the pandemic. Yes, COVID, or SARS CoV-2 as the virus is called, is still with us and is likely to be with us for years to come. It has become less virulent, which means that the spectrum of illness with which it is associated is dramatically milder than the first variants of the virus. I am not one of those who believes that the medical establishment exaggerated the virulence of the original virus, the so-called alpha variant. Even though the statistics were inflated by a poor distinction of death from COVID as opposed of death with COVID (an older person with serious terminal disease who had virus positivity near or at the time of death).
Today I am troubled by the continued masking of a small percentage of our population. I ate in a restaurant last night where two of the waitresses wore masks while the others and none of the patrons did. This kind of practice is very confusing.
Let me enumerate the problems as I see them, taking inspiration from on a recent posting on substack.com from Dr. Joseph Marine.
Seeing human faces is natural and necessary for human society to function. We communicate through facial expression. Hiding faces is isolating and dehumanizing. I think employers need to have serious discussions with their employees about their presentation to customers.
When mandatory, forced masking is demoralizing to many health care workers who now see it as ineffective. Being forced to comply with irrational requirements is a well-understood cause of moral injury and burnout. I do think that masking can be justified in bone marrow units, cancer units, transplant wards, and a few other locations in hospitals but not in general areas or doctor’s offices.
Forced masking will exacerbate the health workforce crisis. Many people would rather not cover their face all day at work. Some with a choice, especially non-professional staff, will choose to work elsewhere.
Forced masking or inconsistent masking in units, clinics, and out-patient therapy locales will undermine public confidence that health care decisions are based on science and reason. Most people believe that mask mandates are not. Seeing people with masks in health facilities sends a message that doctors and other medical personnel don’t know what they are doing and may erode confidence in other health recommendations.
Mask mandates make no distinction between potentially effective masks, such as N95s and respirators, and any piece of cloth with ear loops, sending a message that it is all just for show.
With studies showing falling confidence in doctors and health care, we should not continue legacy covid policies that have been proven to be of no value or marginal value. I remain very concerned that the medical profession’s suboptimal grasp of lessons from the pandemic and the many errors of the public health establishment.
At age 76 years, I made the decision to take both the influenza and COVID vaccines in September because of the low possibility of more severe disease at my age but I recommended to my daughter to have my 19 and 20 year old sons from the COVID vaccine because of the low risk of serious disease and the risk, albeit also low, of myocarditis as a complication of the vaccine in young men.
As always, I welcome questions and feedback.