COVID-19: Confusing the Crisis

I just finished watching the White House’s C-Virus briefing.

Here’s what I saw and heard….

More impressively produced graphs with bars, scattergrams, and spaghetti lines of moving-day-averages – which were more than difficult to read while sitting on my sofa, more $50 multi-syllabic words and impressive pandemic jargon, and new alarming Corona-data which was always followed with a positive explanation and colored with an optimistic brush.

Here’s what I wanted to see and hear….

I just wanted to hear one medical expert (does not matter who s/he was) to stand tall and simply say….

“We reverse our ardent and collective stance against wearing MASKS which misinformed the non-infected, healthy public during those crucial, early days of the pandemic. It is imperative to wear face coverings if the community spread is to be controlled as we return to our daily lives. We are sorry for the mixed messaging and confusion which may have tainted the long-term attitude of our nation about the prophylactic benefit of protecting the nasal and oral cavities which are the primary points of viral entry.“

Drop the Mic…..and walk off the stage.

Job. well. done.

A COVID-19 update that would have lasted less than a minute.

No need to expostulate for the millionth time how great a job the American public is doing with this virus. How wonderful the Millennials are for getting tested. Or how we need to thank our respiratory therapists for the umpteenth time. You know how we can thank our tireless, heroic healthcare workers on the front-line? Stop the Spread….so our medical professionals can stop living in RV’s in their own driveways because they are afraid to hug their children for fear of infecting them with COVID-19.

__________________

I live in Texas…..close to Houston.

And I believe (with absolutely no proof whatsoever) the reluctance to wear a mask in my state could “possibly” stem partly from the strong and constantly repeated message in those early days of COVID to avoid wearing masks. Don’t buy masks. Masks will provide no protection. Masks only protect the sick.

I believe in late February there was a tweet by a respected and prominent governmental doctor: “Seriously people-STOP BUYING MASKS! They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!”

It is inconceivably difficult to reverse such an ingrained directive that was the main mantra of so many Coronavirus briefings. And too, America wholeheartedly watched those daily C-virus briefings with none of the medical doctors wearing masks or standing 6 feet apart for months and months.

Words are powerful….but only if followed by actions.

That ole’ adage…..”Do as I say, not as I do.” Try that with your children and tell me if that really works?

I am not criticizing. I am not placing blame.

But am I’m frustrated? And alarmed? at the number of citizens who believe the first mask message, adopted it as gospel, and refuse to accept the 180-degree-reversal? You bet, I am.

__________________________

So that’s the problem.

Then, what is the solution?

__________________________

I believe in order to correct the false narrative enforced and reinforced from medical “experts”, governmental agency officials, and television docs during daily press conferences and endless cable news interviews that masks are ineffective…. there needs to be an open, public acknowledgement for the switched mandate by many prominent medical voices.

____________________

What if I told my child that smoking cigarettes wasn’t all that harmful? And everyday – during their most formative stage, I lit up a cigarette in front of him/her. And puffed away. Then, one day I changed my mind. Without explanation or discussion, I told him/her not to smoke. Just do the complete opposite of what I preached when they were very impressionable and hung on my every word for direction….Never admitting that I was grossly mistaken or had selfish motives to justify my own need to smoke. That new message just doesn’t work. That new message is UNHEARD and UNHEEDED.

_______________________

Without an ounce of medical or scientific backing, in my humble pedestrian opinion, I do believe if Americans had been emphatically instructed to wear masks or scarves or bandannas or gaiters over the mouths and noses in March, we would be in a totally different state of affairs today.

The timing was critical. Heck, timing is always crucial in any circumstance. I think we can all agree on that.

Back in early March, everyone I knew was hanging on every word uttered by the “medical experts”. People were mesmerized by their computer or television screens wanting to know every factoid disseminated by the TV docs. When the majority of physicians on cable news admonished the Worried-Well citizens of our country to STOP buying and wearing face coverings….it resonated and unfortunately became the absolute truth in many American’s minds.

And here we are today. As my husband and I drive around on a bright, sunny afternoon just to get out of the house and take a break from working from our home offices, we might see 1 mask for every 50 people. And some days, we don’t see a single masked shopper.

So thank you – again – Readers for clicking on this post. As a concerned citizen with a blog, I feel obligated to do my part to offer a solution on how to make masks mainstream for the health of our nation and for the return to our daily lives.

_______________________

Okay. It’s Friday. I need to breathe. And to do a Sun Salutation. NAMASTE.

Allow me to end on a positive note to start the weekend.

Here’s a great way to keep in touch with people who are meaningful to you.

I purchased a pack to send to people who have helped me…. or I miss dearly….or might need a little encouragement to wear a mask. I plan to write a note to tell the recipient that I am thinking about them and wish them well during this troubled time.

If this is something you’d like to do, here’s the purchasing link.

______________________________________

For more information on masks, please read the following excellent articles:

Fauci: why the public wasn’t told to wear masks when the coronavirus pandemic began (The infectious disease expert also discussed why they are necessary.) By: Alexandra Kelley | Thehill.com | June 16, 2020. Click here to read.

[After reading this first article….this question begs to be asked & answered:

If the White House Task Force doctors were scared the public would buy & horad all N95 Medical Masks causing a scarcity for medical workers – then, why not inform the general public about the efficacy of wearing cloth face coverings? Scarves? Bandannas? Ski Gaiters?]

Why Telling People They Don’t Need Masks Backfired. By: Zeynep Tufeckci. The New York Times. March 17, 2020. Click here to read.