COVID etiquette: Be kind!

Echo opinion letter published in the Herald Journal newspaper in Logan Utah:

To the editor:

It is selfish and wrong for people in this country to expect medical workers to continue to carry the heavy load of COVID patients and to put hospitals in the position where they have to turn people with other medical needs away. 

It is selfish and wrong for parents to expect their children’s teachers to keep school open when they are unwilling to do what it takes to keep everyone well by having their children wear masks to school.

Our children can learn a great lesson about sacrifice and caring for others when they wear a mask. Our children and their teachers are more vulnerable this fall than they were last school year. Salt Lake City School District with its mask mandate has the lowest case count of any large district in the state.It is irresponsible for legislators to tie the hands of schools, colleges, and businesses from implementing the proven measures that will save lives! Where is the sense of personal sacrifice for the good of the whole? 

Look at what our firefighters have been going through in the west this summer for the good of others. Look at what our military personnel go through for the good of others. Look at the work our National Guardsmen and many volunteers do to help after national disasters like the recent hurricanes and storms. Look at the sacrifices made by the first responders twenty years ago during 9/11. Why do we ignore disaster until it hits us directly? Why can’t the rest of us do our small part during this difficult time? I can understand vaccine hesitancy to a degree. But, I do not understand refusing to wear a mask, especially for reasons around personal rights. I have asthma, and I have survived 18 months wearing one. It is one of the most important things I can do to keep myself and those around me safe, along with being vaccinated. My daughter, a teacher in Utah, just told me tonight that SIX teachers in her school are now out with COVID, some vaccinated but none of them wore a mask. At this same time last year when everyone was masked up, no teachers were out sick with COVID. The high school in their town is having to go to weekly testing of students, a much more expensive measure than simply masking everyone up. 

What a price to pay. It disgusts me how politicized this whole pandemic has become when it is plain and simply a matter of just caring for each other. For once, let’s just each do our part and stop getting so hung up on our personal rights. Wear the mask! 

And be kind!

From Elizabeth Dennison
Mendon, Utah