Masks mean I care about you
To be honest, I don't particularly like wearing masks. They're uncomfortable and it's impossible to smile at strangers when I'm walking down the street and I haven't figured out a way to keep my glasses from fogging up. I understand why folks have mixed feelings on masks, especially when we hear conflicting reports from different news sources. No one really likes being told what to do.
Below is a helpful interview with infectious disease specialists at UCSF, and here's a snippet that captures the power of wearing a mask: "Two compelling case reports also suggest that masks can prevent transmission in high-risk scenarios, said Chin-Hong and Rutherford. In one case, a man flew from China to Toronto and subsequently tested positive for COVID-19. He had a dry cough and wore a mask on the flight, and all 25 people closest to him on the flight tested negative for COVID-19. In another case, in late May, two hair stylists in Missouri had close contact with 140 clients while sick with COVID-19. Everyone wore a mask and none of the clients tested positive."
There's also mounting evidence that the surge we expected to see from the protests that started a few weeks ago never quite happened - the public health folks are crediting this to the power of masks and being outdoors. A lot of of the outbreaks are being traced back to large indoor gatherings where people were eating (or otherwise didn't wear their masks).
For me, wearing a mask comes down to kindness. When I wear my mask, it's my way of saying that I care about you, even if I don't know the first thing about you. I don't know who's walking around terrified of the pandemic, who's got a loved one on chemotherapy or with lupus, who's lost a family member to COVID. We all probably know someone who's lost someone they loved. I wonder what these folks must feel when they're still grieving and then see group photos on instagram or people picketing about their right to go without a mask. It's been hard for me to watch healthcare folks negotiate between doing their job and putting their family at risk, leave shifts smelling like bleach with their faces raw and red from PPE, step into high-risk situations to take care of patients in need. I've seen a lot of sacrifice from a lot of people who care a LOT. I can only imagine how it feels for them to log into social media and see people opt out of effective measures to curb the spread.
And unfortunately, it's not getting easier for healthcare folks, or for anyone. The pandemic in our country is unequivocally getting worse. I just spent this past month in Oakland's busiest emergency department and saw first hand how cases have started to creep up. Today we had 47,000 new cases which is THE biggest one day spike since the pandemic started. It's difficult to make sense of these amorphous numbers but California and Texas individually have more new cases today than Italy had new cases at its peak (Georgia’s public health department has botched enough data that I'm wary of the numbers they're reporting). Black Americans still carry a disproportionate burden of hospitalizations and deaths. Nine of the country's ten biggest clusters are inside correctional facilities - many of which are above 100% capacity. The list goes on.
I don't say all of this to add to our communal sense of existential dread. We've all felt enormous losses and life as we know it feels unrecognizable. I am a raging optimist and right now y'all, I believe the most optimistic things we can do are continue investing in a sustainable new normal and show others that we care about them. Wearing a mask whenever you're out is a key part to both of these. We have to be realistic about tradeoffs – the American Academy of Pediatrics advocated for kids to go back to school because the alternative is even more detrimental to their health but how safe is it gonna be for kids if us adults don't do more to curb the spread? We are frustrated and scared and stressed and restless and lonely but I wonder if these tough times might bring us closer, allow us to feel more connected through some semblance of shared struggles and losses. We truly are in this together. The issue of masks seems like a silly way to divide us (although I am actually interested in people’s concerns about wearing masks and am very happy to talk so please feel free to comment if you feel differently!) .
I'm not a huge Mother Teresa fan but I do like this quote: "If I look at the mass I will never act. If I look at the one, I will." In the coming days as things get harder, I’m going to try not to get bogged down by numbers. Instead I’ll think about my emergency medicine mentor that’s making sacrifices on the front lines, the celebrity I follow on Twitter who has recently shared their immunocompromised status, the friend who’s uncle died of COVID. I hope that you join me, and I really hope that you wear your masks <3
xoxo
Juhi
Sources:
UCSF doctors on wearing masks: https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-about-masks-heres-science-behind-how-face-masks-prevent
Protests aren't causing increased numbers: https://time.com/5861633/protests-coronavirus/
Italy's numbers: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/world/europe/italy-coronavirus-cases.html
Our numbers: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/world/coronavirus-updates.html
Today's 47,000 case spike: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-idUSKBN2412TA
COVID's affect on Black Americans: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_covid_19_killing_black_americans
The AAP's statement on going back to school: https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/06/29/884638999/u-s-pediatricians-call-for-in-person-school-this-fall
Below is a helpful interview with infectious disease specialists at UCSF, and here's a snippet that captures the power of wearing a mask: "Two compelling case reports also suggest that masks can prevent transmission in high-risk scenarios, said Chin-Hong and Rutherford. In one case, a man flew from China to Toronto and subsequently tested positive for COVID-19. He had a dry cough and wore a mask on the flight, and all 25 people closest to him on the flight tested negative for COVID-19. In another case, in late May, two hair stylists in Missouri had close contact with 140 clients while sick with COVID-19. Everyone wore a mask and none of the clients tested positive."
There's also mounting evidence that the surge we expected to see from the protests that started a few weeks ago never quite happened - the public health folks are crediting this to the power of masks and being outdoors. A lot of of the outbreaks are being traced back to large indoor gatherings where people were eating (or otherwise didn't wear their masks).
For me, wearing a mask comes down to kindness. When I wear my mask, it's my way of saying that I care about you, even if I don't know the first thing about you. I don't know who's walking around terrified of the pandemic, who's got a loved one on chemotherapy or with lupus, who's lost a family member to COVID. We all probably know someone who's lost someone they loved. I wonder what these folks must feel when they're still grieving and then see group photos on instagram or people picketing about their right to go without a mask. It's been hard for me to watch healthcare folks negotiate between doing their job and putting their family at risk, leave shifts smelling like bleach with their faces raw and red from PPE, step into high-risk situations to take care of patients in need. I've seen a lot of sacrifice from a lot of people who care a LOT. I can only imagine how it feels for them to log into social media and see people opt out of effective measures to curb the spread.
And unfortunately, it's not getting easier for healthcare folks, or for anyone. The pandemic in our country is unequivocally getting worse. I just spent this past month in Oakland's busiest emergency department and saw first hand how cases have started to creep up. Today we had 47,000 new cases which is THE biggest one day spike since the pandemic started. It's difficult to make sense of these amorphous numbers but California and Texas individually have more new cases today than Italy had new cases at its peak (Georgia’s public health department has botched enough data that I'm wary of the numbers they're reporting). Black Americans still carry a disproportionate burden of hospitalizations and deaths. Nine of the country's ten biggest clusters are inside correctional facilities - many of which are above 100% capacity. The list goes on.
I don't say all of this to add to our communal sense of existential dread. We've all felt enormous losses and life as we know it feels unrecognizable. I am a raging optimist and right now y'all, I believe the most optimistic things we can do are continue investing in a sustainable new normal and show others that we care about them. Wearing a mask whenever you're out is a key part to both of these. We have to be realistic about tradeoffs – the American Academy of Pediatrics advocated for kids to go back to school because the alternative is even more detrimental to their health but how safe is it gonna be for kids if us adults don't do more to curb the spread? We are frustrated and scared and stressed and restless and lonely but I wonder if these tough times might bring us closer, allow us to feel more connected through some semblance of shared struggles and losses. We truly are in this together. The issue of masks seems like a silly way to divide us (although I am actually interested in people’s concerns about wearing masks and am very happy to talk so please feel free to comment if you feel differently!) .
I'm not a huge Mother Teresa fan but I do like this quote: "If I look at the mass I will never act. If I look at the one, I will." In the coming days as things get harder, I’m going to try not to get bogged down by numbers. Instead I’ll think about my emergency medicine mentor that’s making sacrifices on the front lines, the celebrity I follow on Twitter who has recently shared their immunocompromised status, the friend who’s uncle died of COVID. I hope that you join me, and I really hope that you wear your masks <3
xoxo
Juhi
Sources:
UCSF doctors on wearing masks: https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-about-masks-heres-science-behind-how-face-masks-prevent
Protests aren't causing increased numbers: https://time.com/5861633/protests-coronavirus/
Italy's numbers: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/world/europe/italy-coronavirus-cases.html
Our numbers: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/world/coronavirus-updates.html
Today's 47,000 case spike: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-idUSKBN2412TA
COVID's affect on Black Americans: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_covid_19_killing_black_americans
The AAP's statement on going back to school: https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/06/29/884638999/u-s-pediatricians-call-for-in-person-school-this-fall
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