When Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced the end to the requirement to wear masks indoors in public and practice social distancing, he claimed it was according to new guidelines from the CDC. It turns out he was factually inaccurate. Lifting restrictions on everyone is not following the CDC.
From the Baltimore Sun
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that it would be OK for people who are fully vaccinated to ditch their masks, indoors and outdoors. The CDC continues to recommend that unvaccinated people wear masks, and masks are required for everyone on planes, trains and boats.
That led to Hogan’s announcement on Friday.
But instead of ordering businesses and officials to sort out who is or isn’t vaccinated — a challenge Hogan called “a logistical nightmare” — the governor said he decided to keep a single set of rules for all Marylanders and drop mask requirements in nearly every setting.
You wear a mask to protect others
Nobody expects businesses or anyone else to sort out who is or isn’t vaccinated. That’s stupid. It’s a matter of public health, not individual health. While most Marylanders are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19, people should still wear masks and practice social distancing. It’s what’s keeping them safe right now. Remember, we wear masks not to protect ourselves but to protect other people.
SARS-CoV-2 is still highly contagious.
COVID-19 is still a devastating, deadly disease.
We are still in a pandemic.
Now is not the time to drop our guard and pretend the pandemic is over. Granted. The COVID-19 death rate in the United States is at the lowest it has been in 10 months, 600 a day. Keep in mind, those 600 deaths a day are still from a communicable disease. That lower number is a result of people wearing masks and practicing social distancing. By prematurely lifting rules on mask use and social distancing, The thing that is keeping the non-vaccinated public safe is disappearing.
Prematurely relaxing rules will lead many to believe they don’t need to get fully vaccinated. That’s wrong.