In response to a letter last week (August 26) titled “Face masks ineffective,” this is not true, and this attitude is one of the reasons why the United States has the highest rate of Covid 19 cases in the world. There are plenty of scientific articles that I could reference that verify the effectiveness of wearing masks, but I will try to explain this in three simple steps.
1. Masks greatly reduce the number of airborne particles from a sneeze, cough or talking.
2. Masks minimize the chance of infected people transmitting Covid-19, flu or cold germs to others.
3. Since the incubation period for Covid 19 is two to seven days, no one really knows if they are infected or not. So wear a mask!
Do I think masks are 100 percent effective? No, certainly not, especially if you were treating a Covid 19 patient, but for our normal day-to-day lives, it will greatly minimize the spread of Covid 19. It is not asking too much of us to wear a mask when we are in public places close to other people. Wearing a mask is something we do for others, not for ourselves. Mandated or not, wearing a mask is the right thing to do if we care about our fellow citizens. Please don’t make this a political issue.
Gary Bischoff
Saugerties
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