Masks save lives

In Sue Lani Madsen’s op-ed, “Safety first or safety third?” (Dec. 3), she promotes the argument that wearing a mask is a simple matter of a personal risk benefit analysis and that it is ineffective to mandate wearing a mask when the personal risk to contracting COVID-19 is very low. She claims to have studied how and under what conditions masks are useful for HER protection.

If she is reading studies, then she certainly knows the benefit of wearing a mask to the population as a whole. This benefit is not just for the selfish ME or an expression of MY personal rights to wear or not wear a mask but also for the benefit of those around you. Suppose she chooses not to wear a mask and contracts the virus but is asymptomatic? Then everyone she comes into contact with can catch the virus and become seriously ill or even die. What about them?

The problem with a personal risk benefit analysis is that it only considers yourself. Isn’t it time to consider some responsibility for our fellow citizens?

The pandemic is out of control across the nation. Masks save lives. It’s such a simple act to wear a mask.

Tim Meyer

Spokane