Mask Use is Effective. Do the Right thing.

Do the right thing. So easy to say. For many, so hard to do.

With COVID 19 continuing to take its toll on lives worldwide, the American casualty rate appears to be close to 120,000 lost lives. There is no end in sight, either. We are all praying for an effective miraculous vaccine to appear, but even if everything goes correctly, and at unprecedented speed, we are looking at 2021. So how do we get through 2020? By doing the right thing, what science dictates works- wear a mask, wash your hands and socially distance.

Personally, I wear an N95 mask from the moment I leave my car in the hospital parking, until the moment I get back in it. Let me tell you, it sucks. I am hot; it makes my skin break out. I inhale my lunch and put it right back on, and I feel exhausted by the end of the day. Around me, though, I witness "PPE fatigue." Fellow health care workers are not wearing their face masks religiously in the hospital. There is a sense of indifference. More than once, I've heard "I can not breathe" as a reason, which takes on a very grave meaning in light of George Floyd's murder and the heartbreaking and paramount Black Lives Matter Movement. Others, in healthcare no less, say, "This is my work bubble-" as if a work cluster outbreak isn't possible or predictable.

Outside the hospital, restaurants require all employees to wear masks. But do they? Fully masked, I recently picked up take out from a favorite restaurant, and was greeted with a smile. Not a mask. I asked why the hostess wasn't wearing one; she replied it was in the back. Then she tried to hand me my food. I left empty-handed and reported the encounter to the Health Department.

Here in Memphis, the city council passed an ordinance to require masks in public, however, with no actual enforcement or penalty. They are hoping people will do the right thing. The public health measures to slow the spread and end this pandemic will only happen when citizens do. How many more people need to die for citizens to socially distance and wear masks?