LETTER: Careless mask handling can make them disease spreaders

To Ozaukee Press:

After being in the health care field for over 37 years, I’m dismayed that what once was a well established protocol for mask wearing has been turned into political theater.

It has always been accepted that those with communicable diseases be isolated, either at home or in a medical facility. Never had the healthy been asked to stay at home.

Despite what some may say, Covid is not unlike dozens of other viruses. What makes it unique is the fact that it is going around the world for the first time, so no natural immunity exists, as is the case with viruses we’ve had for some time. With the uninhibited travel of today, global pandemics can reach their peak much more easily than similar viruses of the past.

This is where protecting the most vulnerable should be our highest priority. So, what do the rest of us do? Getting the vaccine is a good start, but what about wearing a mask? Some communities and states have mandated masks indoors. The hysteria surrounding mask wearing has led people to wear them while walking their dog or jogging or driving alone in their car.

About the only instruction concerning mask wearing has been to cover both your nose and mouth. Virtually any material has served as a “mask.” We’ve all seen those wearing gaiters who continually pull them up just to pull them down again.

I wonder if people truly understand that improper wearing of a mask can actually lead to more transmission of cases, not less. As clinicians, we understand that a “disposable” mask means disposable. We don’t touch the outside—ever. We don’t reuse cloth masks without proper sanitation. We don’t lay them down where someone else may come in contact with them or the germs they leave behind.

Witness the most recent Olympic games—competitors hugging, sweating, even bleeding on one another only to go back to their bench wearing their masks. No doubt Tokyo wanted to appear to be doing all the acceptable things.

We’re entering another school year where some are again mandating masks. We should all ask ourselves: Is this medically necessary among a population very unlikely to have serious symptoms, whose ability to keep from touching their masks is questionable, or is this a measure to make us feel better ?

Peter Muehleis
Port Washington