Photo courtesy of Greene Co Medical Center
A new initiative has started with the Greene County Medical Center relating to COVID-19.
CEO Tracy Warner says the initiative is #MaskUp, with the goal of bringing awareness and education about wearing a mask to reduce the community spread of the virus. With some counties passing resolutions to mandate wearing masks in public, Warner agrees that a mandate would be beneficial in Greene County.
“I think having a mask mandate would help slow the spread of COVID-19, even if our numbers are lower than the surrounding areas. The county’s positivity rate has fluctuated between 5 and 10-percent in the last few weeks. One of the counties to the west (Carroll) is among the highest positivity rates in the state right now. We know that people in Greene and Carroll counties move back and forth regularly. We don’t want to end up with high numbers like our neighbors, especially when we can do something about it.”
Warner outlines studies and research-based information regarding the effectiveness of wearing masks to prevent spreading different viruses.
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing a mask, the World Health Organization does too. A century ago, when there were only cloth masks, they indeed lowered infection rates for healthcare workers and others during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, the Manchurian Plague pandemic of 1920 and 21, and in the 1930s and 40s tuberculosis.”
Warner is pleased about the number of people who wear a mask on a regular basis, but urges more people to do so to protect everyone from contracting COVID-19. She says Greene County Public Health has masks people can get for free, by calling them at 515-386-3228. Click the links below for two additional articles about masks reducing the spread of COVID-19.
https://www.uchealth.org/today/wear-a-mask-the-science-that-supports-masks/