Editor:
How can masks with distancing be more helpful than distancing alone, if masks alone are not very helpful? Picture a water hose aimed at you while wearing a rain poncho. You’ll get wet where the water goes through the holes. Now picture standing just out of reach of the direct stream of water. The poncho keeps out the stray mist and you’ll stay dry.
How can one study show a measure twice as effective, while another says the difference is negligible? Picture a gambling spinner with red covering a third of the wheel, and another with red covering a sixth of the wheel. Spin each wheel once, and there’s twice as much chance of the first wheel coming up red. But in an experiment spinning each wheel 300 times, the number of experiments that red comes up zero times is very rare, regardless of which wheel is used.
Speak to those who see students of all ages during the school day: COVID-19 quarantines distract from learning; so do masks. And prioritizing mask-wearing over all else is an unsafe health risk.
The governor recognizes what parents, teachers and students know. That’s why his mandate has generous exceptions to allow for people to be healthy and sane. Masks can be removed, for instance, during educational activities that cannot be performed while mask-wearing, or if masks create problems for one’s breathing or sanity.
Glenn Shrom
Upper Bern Township
Source: Berkshire mont
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