Editorial: Masks defend health and economy
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The best offense is a good defense.
It’s a familiar sentiment. It’s a tenet of arenas from the military to Wall Street. It’s a concept that fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers might even consider a religion.
It’s the idea that there is no better way to attack a problem than to create a way to repel it.
And when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic, that best defense is in our hands. Well, actually, it’s on our faces. It’s the mask.
While we pray for a cure and wait for a vaccine, those offensive tools are out of our control. The defensive measures of a piece of cloth to stand between our breath and our brethren is not. The slogan is simple: “My mask protects you. Your mask protects me.”
Is it perfect? No. But it is proactive, and it is egalitarian. Whether your mask is homemade or purchased, mass-produced or improvised, it is a small but significant step everyone can take to protect each other.
It has taken a while for American and Pennsylvanian authorities to make masks a must for the populace. Medical-grade masks, that shield the wearer from infection, have been a priority for the medical community and other first response employees for more than a month.
Two weeks ago, Gov. Tom Wolf recommended masks. On Wednesday, he upped that to an order that goes into effect Sunday, requiring masks in all businesses still operating amid the pandemic shutdowns — for both employees and customers.
It is a good move. But as with most of the state’s directives, it is also confusing.
It demands businesses require customers to wear masks. Except it also says if you can’t wear one you don’t have to — and that no one will ask for proof of that. It puts the onus on the businesses to enforce a policy on its customers by punishing the business if the customers don’t comply.
In a perfect world, that wouldn’t be a problem. We’re all in this together. We should all work together to get through it.
But not all customers are cooperative in this stressful time. A man spit at an Edgewood Giant Eagle employee on April 1. Others are accused of deliberately coughing on a fast-food worker in Hempfield and two Unity doctor’s office staffers. That’s the kind of assault the corrections officers face in prisons. A Luzerne County store had to throw out $35,000 worth of groceries after a woman purposely coughed on them.
Businesses need backup from the state to make this defense work, and that backup should be clear communication about individual responsibilities and consequences.
And it can’t wait. Making masks work effectively could be the first step toward more businesses being open and more people getting back on the job — something we desperately need with 22 million Americans filing for unemployment in just four weeks.
Masks aren’t just the best defense for our collective health. They are the best offense for our economy.