Masks save lives

I’m starting to get offended. We’ve all heard “No one under the age of 50 has died. The vast majority of deaths here are 70 or older.” Well then, no problem!

Now I’m reading about the virus being called the Boomer Remover. Nice.

A toddler in Spokane has the virus and a child in Seattle has developed an inflammatory disease tied to COVID-19. If old people don’t matter, will the children matter?

If we speak out about the importance of saving lives (even older people) we’re accused of being anti-business. We older people definitely care about the economy – after all, we helped build it. We’re watching our retirement savings go down the tube and we may not have enough years left to see them come back. But, we’d sure like to live long enough to try!

At my neighborhood grocery store I noticed that about 80% of women wore masks while only about 30-40% of men did. Do they not understand that they might be spreading the disease even if they don’t have symptoms? Costco requires masks; why don’t all stores? Health and government officials: I know it would be political suicide but can you please mandate mask usage?

Because we closed down quickly, we’ve fared better than some other cities. We actually mostly stayed home and practiced social distancing. Now, let’s wear masks, open the economy carefully, relying on the science, not the opinions of angry protesters. Let’s cooperate with testing/tracing and protect each other.

Marilee Roloff

Spokane