By Bela “Bill” Suhayda
Sugar Grove
After my first microbiology class in college, I realized there were at least a thousand ways I would come into contact with microbes on a daily basis. There is an inevitability to living with germs. They are all around us, on us, and inside of us. Some of these little critters are actually essential to good health. When I first learned of this scary, invisible, world, I had a decision to make. (A) I could fastidiously wash my hands and body, then filter the air I breathe every second of every day of my life just like a mad man. Or, I could accept the reality it is how nature works.
I don’t mean to suggest we shouldn’t take precautions against disease.
We need to be responsible with the food we eat and serve. We vaccinate and use therapeutics against organisms that are killers as well. We take common sense precautions because of what we have learned about the microscopic world.
We have been living in a germaphobe culture now for a year-and-a-half. The amount of misinformation we are getting, even from so-called professionals in the field, is staggering. In March 2020 we were told we didn’t need masks. Then we needed masks. Then we needed two, or, even 10 masks quarantined inside our homes. We were to distance ourselves from others by six feet. Then we learned three feet was enough. Some people became essential workers.
Others were locked out of their livelihoods and destroyed. Children, who statistically run little to no risk from COVID, were locked out of their education. We continue to ignore statistics, common sense and science.
The mask wearing issue is full of misconceptions, hostility, and debate. Too many people think mask wearing will keep us safe. It won’t! The virus can penetrate all masks including the N-95 surgical masks doctors wear. Wearing masks only can slow the rate at which infection spreads through our population. As a result, hospitals are prevented from being overwhelmed with COVID patients. It was the original intention of wearing masks! It should remain that way. Because mask-wearing slows the rate of infection, it increases the length of time for herd immunity to occur. We continue to move through this process at a snail’s pace creating many other problems for our society and our people by continuing to wear masks. The chances are excellent all of us eventually will contract COVID. It’s just a matter of time. The human race will live with COVID just as we do with all the rest of the viruses, thanks to the Wuhan lab, China, and persons similar to Dr. Anthony Fauci who funded gain of function research.
It has been suggested, by some people writing to this publication (Wayne Johnson), that the unvaccinated are responsible for the spread of the variant of COVID. It is false! The opposite is true. And all we need to understand about this is what happens when doctors over-use an antibiotic. Yes, I understand viruses are very different from bacteria. However, the evolutionary process for all organisms and viruses is the same.