The argument I keep hearing about why we should wear masks goes something like this: “You don’t wear a mask to protect yourself. You wear a mask to protect others.”
Consider this:
According to the CDC, between 24,000 and 62,000 people are estimated to have died from the flu in the United States between October 1, 2019 and April 4, 2020. Since the range is quite large, let’s use the low end for this discussion. So, that’s 24,000 deaths.
Like COVID-19, if you’re elderly and have pre-existing medical conditions, you’re more likely to die from the flu than if you’re young and/or healthy. So, the same people are at risk with either disease.
According to the CDC, COVID-19 and the flu are spread the exact same way. However, COVID-19 appears to be more contagious than the flu. From that, one could reasonably conclude that a mask mandate would be even more effective in preventing the flu than COVID-19. So why don’t we have a nationwide mask mandate during the entirety of the flu season?
If masks work for preventing the spread of COVID-19, masks should also work to prevent the spread of influenza. So, using the “you’re killing grandma if you don’t wear a mask” logic, if we could potentially save 24,000 lives by wearing a mask everywhere and all the time, we should do so. Remember, we already have a vaccine for the flu and, at minimum, 24,000 people are still going to die from it this year.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that masks wouldn’t prevent all 24,000 flu-related deaths and you are correct. Some people would get sick and die even with everyone wearing masks. But, the number of people saved would clearly be non-zero.
Is dying by COVID-19 worse than dying from the flu? I can easily argue that it isn’t. It doesn’t matter if you die from COVID-19 or the flu, either way you’re still equally as dead. What’s an acceptable number of flu-related deaths? How many influenza deaths would it take before we should have a nationwide mask mandate to prevent the spread of the flu and protect the elderly and infirm?
To sum it up, using the “you’re protecting others” argument sounds good, gives people the warm fuzzies and makes them feel like they’re doing something to fight the virus. But when you selectively apply it to one disease and not another, the argument quickly loses effectiveness.
Extra Credit Thought (for reading this far): Everyone knows that the COVID-19 death numbers are inflated because everyone who died “with” the virus is counted as dying “from” the virus. So, the number of people who might be saved from dying of COVID-19 because of a mask mandate is much lower than whatever you think it is.
Extra, Extra Credit Thought: If a cancer patient is taking chemo and has a suppressed immune system, the entire community isn’t forced to take precautions. We don’t shut down all of the businesses in the area to make sure that person doesn’t get sick. Instead, the person at risk takes whatever precautions they deem necessary.
