Shift focus on the most at risk

As each governmental agency throughout the Roaring Fork Valley has fallen in line in extending mask mandates, the article published in the Oct. 29 Wall Street Journal, “Masks are a distraction from the pandemic reality,” is eye-opening. The author, Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo, is an associate professor at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine.

The entire article sites numerous science-based findings questioning the value of mask wearing, particularly outdoors. The concluding paragraph, “Until the reality of viral spread in the U.S. — with or without mask mandates — is accepted, political leaders will continue to feel justified in keeping schools and businesses closed, robbing young people of the opportunity to invest in their futures, and restricting activities that make life worthwhile. Policy makers ought to move forward with more wisdom and sensibility to mitigate avoidable costs to human life and well-being,” is enough to question the continued focus on the primary use of mask mandates over a sharper targeting of methods beneficial to those most at risk, and should be strongly considered.

Rick Gardner

Snowmass