Dale Dormody: What's with the holdouts who won't wear masks?

To The Daily Sun,

I read that the Belknap County delegation is going forward with an in-person meeting despite legal and medical advice to the contrary. I've also heard that some local boards of selectmen have voted against enforcing mask-wearing in public buildings. When I'm out and about, I'm happy to see that the vast majority of people are following the expert advice. But what's with these holdouts? I honestly don't understand what the issue is with simply following basic disease prevention guidelines. As we're heading into the worst of this pandemic, is it too much of a sacrifice to wear a simple mask?

I've heard some argue that the COVID numbers are inflated, because it's listed as the cause of death even if there were underlying conditions. If COVID is what pushed someone over the edge, shouldn't that be counted? But OK, for the sake of discussion, let's say the COVID death numbers are inflated by 100%. That would mean that 1,500 U.S. citizens are dying from COVID every day, instead of 3,000. Is that number more acceptable? Others say COVID isn't that bad - everyone they know that got it has recovered. How lucky for them - I sincerely hope that their luck continues. Still others claim they've found medical experts who say masks are not effective. Hmm. The American Medical Association and the Center for Disease Control say that they are. Who is more credible? How about asking a group of doctors, or nurses, or an epidemiologist, or anyone struggling to save the lives of people hospitalized with COVID? I wonder what they would tell you.

But for the sake of discussion again, let's say that masks are only 50% effective. Even if you applied that to the lower number referenced above, that means wearing a mask might help save 750 people every day, over 22,000 people every month. Still not worth your trouble? How many deaths would it take before you might consider giving the expert advice a shot?

Is a refusal to wear a mask a sign of independence? A free state, libertarian statement? Really? This issue, at this moment in time, is where you choose to plant your flag?

If you're truly anti-mask, please at least consider these words from a man who lost his 81 year old father to COVID. He says his father was "born into an America recovering from the Great Depression and about to face World War 2, times of loss and sacrifice difficult for most of us to imagine. Americans would be asked to ration essential supplies and send their children around the world to fight and die in wars of unfathomable destruction. He died in a world where many of his fellow Americans refuse to wear a piece of cloth on their face to protect one another. When our local city councils, when our state legislatures, are refusing to enact policies that can protect people, they've made political decisions that result in people like my father dying the way that they are."

Dale Dormody

Gilford