Hope everyone is doing well and is safe and healthy. I am actually going to start this week’s blog with how I normally end it. The reason is that the stakes have never been higher. As careful as Massachusetts has been in reopening, cases are starting to climb again. Reopening of schools, more people heading indoors, more people gathering, people just treating this like it’s a political statement versus a medical emergency and some complaining that “it’s just hard” or “my freedom is being taken away” are some of the reasons for this increase. There are some people who still believe that this is a hoax and that COVID is being overblown. To this, I would say to you that there is a simple way to determine this. Every state as well as the country keeps track of total deaths per month over an extended period of time, which takes into account deaths by accidents, disease, old age, natural disasters, etc. If you compare previous years to this year, you will notice a sharp uptick. This is due to COVID. Really simple math. We are likely undercounting deaths due to the virus, but that will be determined at a later date. I would also say to the hoax people that you should decline medical care if you have not been wearing a mask and get the virus so my daughter (and other daughters and sons in the medical profession) is not risking her life to save yours due to your carelessness. I would rather have her treating someone that through no fault of their own got the disease. There are no “do-overs” or “I should have” with this virus. We are going to be dealing with PTSD in the medical community based on what these brave and selfless people are seeing, having to deal with numerous deaths and people dying alone. This is not exaggeration. This is going on right now.
Social media as well as different media outlets have been showing what I consider BS rants, whether people are from Massachusetts, people I know, people across the country and even former residents of Massachusetts who keep worrying about our policies in Massachusetts (not sure why they do since we are not complaining about it and would not want their policies). Sadly, some elected officials are intentionally not providing the full truth about the conditions within their state (aren’t these people supposed to be looking out for their constituents). I am thankful that our Governor cares about us and uses science to guide his policy, making some very hard decisions that I am sure are keeping him up at night. Everyone agrees that it completely sucks we are losing businesses. No one wants this to happen (NOBODY!). It may have occurred to a lesser extent if we had implemented a federal policy earlier in the pandemic so that all states were following the same rules at the same time. It would also be nice to have our federal politicians (both parties) not act like children and work together to get help to more people. Please keep supporting your local businesses as they continue to work through these challenging times. Many other businesses are nowhere near out of the woods yet and won’t be for a long time.
The scientific evidence is overwhelming that masks and social distancing have a positive effect on controlling the virus. The idea being passed around of letting people get the virus and we will get “herd immunity” is not a viable option. This approach will result in many more deaths. Who would you be willing to part with to get herd immunity?
Contrary to popular belief, asking people to wear a mask is not being done to take away anyone’s freedom or to brainwash us. At some point in the near future, we will not need a mask, but until that time, a mask provides us freedom to see people, continue to work, travel around, etc. Even if we got a vaccine tomorrow, protection will not be immediate (similar to the flu vaccine, it will not provide 100% protection). Wearing a mask says that I care about protecting you in case I have the virus. It is one of the most patriotic and considerate things we can do. A clever group from Kansas put together music to Beauty and the Beast entitled “Wear a mask.” It is a very catchy, smart song.
Life is about risk and while nothing is fool-proof, the goal is to de-risk the possibility of infection as much as possible (spoken like a person working with medical devices). We are a tough, innovative bunch and we will get through this together. We can accomplish anything we put our mind to.
I will be back next week with more company news and insight. Just needed to get this off my chest.
Matt
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