Allen County commissioners backed off Tuesday from mandating face masks to guard against the spread of COVID-19 to simply “recommending” that people maintain the practice.
Commissioners took their cue from state leaders who last week overruled Gov. Laura Kelly’s request that counties impose the mandates until health officials declare the coronavirus is no longer a threat to the general public.
Health experts have their fingers crossed that easing up on public safety measures won’t incur a spike in new infections.
The coast is anything but clear. Today, U.S. coronavirus cases are up 10%.
“Please hear me clearly: At this level with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said last week.
The data is on the side of science.
Repeated studies have shown that counties that enforce mask mandates have fewer rates of infections and fewer hospitalizations.
The United States tends to lag behind COVID trends in Europe, which, after easing up on safety measures, is now experiencing another wave of cases.
Germany hovers on another lockdown. Hospitals in France are once again overwhelmed, nearing a five-month high.
But rather than double-down and channel our fighting spirit, Americans are ready to throw in the towel.
EVEN WHEN the mask mandates are not enforced — as they weren’t in Allen County — they send the message that leaders respect the science that the coronavirus is a serious threat to public health and as such they want to protect citizens as much as possible.
A hands-off approach says the coast is clear.
Some leaders are threading the needle.
After Arkansas lifted its mask mandate last week, its governor, Asa Hutchinson, said he would continue to wear a mask, saying, “It’s important to be courteous to others and to be mindful that we need to protect ourselves and others. And so common sense should govern.”
Allen County Commissioner Bruce Symes took a similar tack at Tuesday’s meeting, saying he would defer to health experts as to the best response to a health crisis: “I’ll continue to make the health department’s position my position,” that is, “to continue to wear masks in public places, social distance and wash your hands.”
THE GOAL, of course, is to get as many people vaccinated against COVID-19 so that we can go about freely — and safely.
But with an inoculation rate of less than 30%, we’re far short of the goal in Allen County.
