Covid-19 arrived earlier in 2020 and our lives were severely disrupted. People are dying, businesses are struggling, people are losing their jobs. There’s no reason to believe that the situation will improve soon. There are too many things about covid-19 that we just don’t know. We do know that there are a few things that we can do to limit the spread or prevent infection: WHO covid-19 advice (Note that this may have changed from the below since I’ve written this. This is a changing situation.)
- Wash your hands often. Use soap and water, or an alcohol-based hand rub
- Don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth
- Maintain a safe distance from other people
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Cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze
- Stay home if you feel unwell
- If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical attention
- Wear a mask
Most people don’t have a problem with the first six items on the list. Why the masks should have become an issue is difficult to understand. In South Africa, and America, it has suddenly become a major problem. People complaining about freedom and control. It is, in my opinion, nonsensical as most of them are slavishly following the other advice. Oddly it is mostly the same group of people who are complaining the disruptions caused by covid-19. Wearing your mask will help to alleviate the problem. There are a number of studies proving this. From University of California San Francisco
Whether your argument for not wearing a mask is control, freedom, they don’t work, it’s uncomfortable, or any other in the same vein, it’s nonsense. It is about saving lives and reducing the impact of the virus. Not wearing a mask is selfish. You don’t care about other people or the well-being of society as a whole. It’s all about you and your comforts. Pure entitlement. These will also be the first people to complain when life doesn’t return to normal within a short space of time. Their own contribution to keeping the spread going will not even be considered.
Wear your mask, stop being an idiot. You can save lives, slow the spread, assist the world in getting back to some kind of normal, you can save jobs, you can save businesses. I know it’s difficult for selfish people to start considering others but this is the time. Just do it.