Think about that. As a country, we’re still seared by the nearly 3,000 deaths in the 9/11 attacks. But the institute’s model warns that by the end of December, we’ll be losing that many each day.
Larry Brilliant, an epidemiologist who early in his career helped eradicate smallpox, argues that we can crush this virus as well. We’ve seen the toolbox that other countries employed to do so: universal mask use, social distancing, testing, contact tracing and so on.
We as a country have the tools and we have the resources; what we lack is the will. Dan Patrick, the lieutenant governor of Texas, suggested that he and other grandparents would prefer to die rather than take measures against the virus that would disrupt the economy. Uncovered protesters rampage through stores without masks, shouting “Take off your mask,” “It’s all a lie,” and “Take it off.” Store and restaurant employees have been shot by customers angered at requests that they wear masks.
Mask-wearing lags in the United States compared with some other countries, particularly among men. A poll suggests that many American men see mask-wearing as wimpish, “a sign of weakness.” Likewise, some Americans seem to believe that avoiding masks is a measure of freedom.
No, it’s a measure of decency, altruism and responsible behavior. But note that one should avoid masks with valves (which are less protective of other people) and use the mask to cover one’s nose as well as one’s mouth. And it’s profoundly unhelpful to remove one’s mask when speaking.
Strangely, many of those who denounce masks are also those who claim to believe in “personal responsibility” yet don’t understand that going without a mask is just like driving while drunk.
Sure, most of the time when you go without a mask, you won’t infect anybody, just as most of the time if you drive while tipsy, you won’t crash your car. Every day some 300,000 people drive while intoxicated, and they kill about 10,000 people a year — which pales beside the 100,000 who the modelers believe will die in the next three months because of reckless Americans who won’t wear masks.