Letter to the editor: About wearing a mask

According to Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious-disease doctor at UCSF, people who wear a mask inhale fewer airborne viral particles, making it easier for their immune system to fight and defeat the intruders. While it’s estimated that about 40 percent of Covid-19 infections result in no symptoms, that rate of no symptoms appears to rocket in places where people wear mask. At one seafood plant in Oregon where mask are widely used, 90 percent of all cases were asymptomatic. Likewise the asymptomatic rate was above 80 percent on a cruise ship where passengers were issued mask—and below 20 percent on a cruise where mask weren’t in widespread use. This study indicates that wearing a mask also protects the wearer as well as the individual within the social distance from inhaling viral particles. So I will keep wearing my mask to recognize your right to stay healthy and also to keep myself healthier.

Duane Vander Veen

Graeagle