Maskless postal workers, election doorbellers? C’mon, Pierce County, COVID-19 is real
It doesn’t matter how many scientists commend it as the best available way to stop coronavirus spread. Or how many polls say the majority of Americans support it. Or how many government directives urge people to do it.
Wearing a mask in public continues to meet head-scratching resistance around America. Pierce County is certainly no exception.
A senior citizen visiting the Parkland post office Tuesday was alarmed to find none of the front-counter employees wore face coverings. Postal customer Peggy Leach tells us she was told by staff that masks are “too intimidating.”
A few days earlier, a homeowner in Fircrest took notice when a carload of unmasked doorbellers for a state senator’s reelection campaign fanned out in her neighborhood.
“I was uneasy when a volunteer approached me in my yard,” said resident Ingrid Barrentine. “As someone who lives with two high-risk individuals and whose work has been affected by COVID-19, I’m doing all I can to adhere to the public health guidelines.”
The most disconcerting thing about these anecdotes is that they’re not unusual. If you’re like us, you’ve seen countless unmasked customers at local supermarkets and hardware stores. And too many clerks, cashiers and restaurant workers are either not wearing face coverings or wearing them incorrectly.
Of course they mean no harm, but that’s irrelevant; the virus is just as destructive when shed by carriers who feel fine and don’t know they’re contagious.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Board of Health took a step Wednesday to reinforce the masking message. Board members adopted a resolution calling for the consistent and regular use of face coverings in public places.
It’s such a small step, and the science behind it so clearcut, we wonder why they waited until the 12th week of Gov. Jay Inslee’s statewide shutdown.
The resolution has less weight than the mask directives issued by health department directors in King and Thurston counties. It also doesn’t make face coverings mandatory, which some health board members have pushed for. If a mandate is coming, the board majority would prefer that Inslee issue one statewide, like California’s governor did Thursday.
The best thing about the new resolution is its promise of a more robust, better funded public education campaign. The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department needs to hammer home the virtues of face coverings beyond its clever “Say it, Don’t Spray It” ads and other marketing efforts.
Big challenges stand in the way, such as bastions of rural conservatism where residents tend to emulate the maskless maverick in the White House.
“I kind of live in a redneck neighborhood,” said Pat Johnson, health board member and mayor of Buckley. “People don’t mind wearing a mask when there’s a forest fire. But when the president of the United States will not wear a mask, it’s an uphill battle.”
Going maskless puts community safety at risk at a time when COVID-19 cases are surging in several states, including Oregon, California and Arizona.
Flouting mask guidelines also puts the gradual restoration of social contact at risk at a time when Washingtonians are enjoying Phase 2 and hoping to advance to Phase 3. Washington averaged nearly 350 new cases a day over the last week and saw a 20 percent increase in infections in the two weeks after Memorial Day.
Putting on a mask is a simple precaution; experts say you should do it anytime you have less than a six-foot separation from someone outside your social “bubble” for more than a few moments, especially indoors.
Do it because the vast majority of Americans know it’s a sensible habit. An Axios-Ipsos poll this week found that 79 percent of people say they wear a mask at least some of the time away from home.
Do it because there’s a growing scientific consensus around the singular effectiveness of masks. This past week, a team researching COVID-19 outbreaks in China, Italy and New York City published a journal article confirming that airborne droplets are the dominant route of transmission; social distancing without masks, they concluded, won’t end the pandemic.
But it’s not not enough to merely wear a mask; they have to be worn properly.
That means covering every orifice on your face that can host infectious droplets. (For those scoring at home, the number is three: two nostrils and a mouth.)
And no, you don’t get partial credit for half measures. Having a mask dangling from one’s ear or chin doesn’t count as good anti-virus hygiene any more than having a long-forgotten condom in one’s dresser drawer counts as safe sex.
Fortunately, it’s never too late to change behavior. A Postal Service spokesman said the Parkland branch workers are back to wearing face coverings, in line with postal protocols. And Sen. Steve O’Ban told us he gave masks to his young election doorbellers and reiterated his expectation that they wear them.
One hopes that the rest of Pierce County gets with the program, too. Because COVID-19 could easily reignite, spread quickly and force Washingtonians to deal with flareups for months.
Much like a forest fire.