Discussion and debate about whether to wear a mask as a means to halt the spread of COVID-19 is traveling around Vermont like a wildfire — or, perhaps better said, like a virus.
The matter comes up frequently at the governor’s weekly press conferences. Selectboards up and down the state, from Hardwick to Morristown, Stowe, Charlotte, Brattleboro, and Bennington are grappling with the issue.
The governor and many others say mandating masks in public spaces and indoors would be unenforceable, counter productive, and divisive.
If a mask were required at a selectboard meeting, a city council, or even the governor’s press conferences, a person who refused to wear one would be disrupting the public meeting and could be asked to leave. If they refused, they could be removed. And that says nothing about common sense.
At times, disagreement — dare I say divisiveness — saves lives. Divisiveness is part of life. That’s not the issue.
The issue is public health and the common good. More than 812,000 people in the United States have died from COVID-19 — that’s almost 30 percent more than Vermont’s entire population. Millions have been stricken by the virus, millions more around the world have been sickened and died. COVID-19 is contagious. COVID-19 is deadly.
Curtailing COVID-19 is not a matter of “personal rights.” The adage that one person’s rights end where another person’s nose begins seems most appropriate in this time of need. According to the scientists and medical professionals, the COVID-19 virus passes easily between the eyes, mouth – and the nose – when inhaling and exhaling.
COVID-19 is a public health crisis and the public needs to act if the disease is to be controlled. That’s not divisive. That’s reality.
Ross Connelly is a resident of Hardwick, Vt.
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