Arkansas HVACR NewsMagazine November 2020

updates. This moving target drives me crazy. Even back in March, it appeared that the CDC and others were dismissing the value of wearing masks so the N95s would be more readily available to health care workers. At that time, we were told that masks did not protect the wearer but did help the other person. Even the beloved Dr. Fauci said that wearing a mask was not necessary back on March 8. I remember thinking at the time that unless the masks had a check valve why would the mask not also help filter some of the droplets otherwise being inhaled by the mask wearer. It j ust didn’t make sense. Some protection seemed logical and it would be better than no protection. It really wasn’t until April 3 that the CDC began to recommend wearing a mask. Now the CDC reports a study in which over 70% of those contracting the virus wore a mask all of the time. Now that doesn’t mean wearing a mask contributes to getting the virus but does illustrate that wearing a mask is not a cure-all to contracting the virus. I am confused. Not sure what is up or what is down or if I am going or coming. Been a very confusing 7+ months. As time goes on, many, myself included, are skeptical of reports and suggestions made by our government. I have also noticed that lots of “working people” are ignoring the admonitions to wear a mask. I was in three businesses and only a few were wearing a mask. In fact, the employees were not wearing a mask but they were practicing social distancing. Which brings up the point, if you wear a mask do you have to social distance and the inverse. If you social distance do you have to wear a mask?

Why I Wear a Mask

And Hate It

Since March we have seen shifts in attitude about wearing a mask. In our publication, “ COVID-19 and the HVACR Industry

Health & Safety ”, we discussed several issues, masks being one. I did lots of research to make sure that the information we presented was well documented. Most of our quotes came from the CDC and the WHO. At the time, they were our golden standard of health and safety. Back then, we quoted the CDC and said, “ WEARING A MASK IS NOT NECESSARY AS IT IS NOT RECOMMENDED BY THE CDC.” We provided a link to the WHO on wearing a mask, If you use that link today you will notice that it was last updated on August 5. What you will not see is a “trace or tracking ” of the changing information and opinion. In fact, if you read our March publication and access the links provided, you would see that much of the information has changed. It is good that it changed. It proves that they are learning and adapting to new information; however, I would appreciate the CDC and WHO clearly stating that their new opinions supersede previous reports and conclusions as well as provide a library and timeline to their publications and