EAMC Relieved by Mask Mandate
July 15, 2020
The COVID-19 committee at EAMC was already scheduled to meet at 11:30 a.m. today, so several members arrived early to watch Governor Kay Ivey’s press conference at 11. The members, all in masks and socially distanced, cheered when Gov. Ivey announced a statewide mandate to wear masks.
“Hospitals throughout the state have been asking for this for a few weeks now and we were all very thankful to hear Governor Ivey’s words today,” said EAMC President and CEO Laura Grill. “We realize some people see a mask mandate as the government going too far, but we ask for everyone’s support and understanding as COVID-19 is a public health crisis right now. This is only meant to be a temporary step to reign in the spread of COVID-19.”
Grill compared today’s announcement to earlier action by Gov. Ivey. “We were as excited as anyone to go out after the stay-at-home order was lifted in May,” Grill recalls. “However, the level of disease in the community and the state is worse now than it was then. We have not been asking for another shutdown, but rather just a way to slow the spread and hopefully reduce the number of hospitalizations.”
Ricardo Maldonado, M.D., EAMC’s infectious diseases specialist, also applauded the mask mandate. “I have been around patients with COVID-19 for four months and my primary protection each day is a mask. For the vast majority of cases, we wear a surgical mask and it has done a great job protecting our employees. More importantly though, when I wear a mask, I am protecting other people from me. If I get COVID-19 even before symptoms appear, I could be contagious; so a mask in this case will mainly protect other people from me.
“Cloth masks work with perhaps with a little less efficacy, but still protect. Are they perfect? No. But imperfect protection does not mean ‘completely useless’ as some people have suggested. In our divided world, the message that surgical masks are ‘not 100 percent effective’ may have sent the message that they are useless. Properly worn masks are safe and many people wear masks all day at work with no problems. Wearing a mask will not make your immune system weaker, which is another common misconception.”
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