Another Plea to Wear a Mask
Dear Editor,
Thanks again to fellow Charlestown residents who are wearing face masks or coverings throughout the community. Although Massachusetts is in a better position right now than other states that have started to see significant increases in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations, we must remain vigilant and not become complacent. Rest assured that we will also see increases in Massachusetts if we do not behave responsibly.
For those of you who aren’t wearing masks, I am making another appeal to urge you to do so. I trust that all of you care about the health and well-being of our entire community and nation. Assuming so, that must mean that you do not believe that wearing a mask will make a difference. There is a lot that we still don’t understand, but the science has been consistent and clear that wearing masks along with other measures can be effective in minimizing the spread of this horrible virus. Fortunately, most people who get infected will not become deathly ill and many will have no symptoms at all. However, the pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic transmission is real and wearing a mask can prevent infecting someone who is more vulnerable and who would become seriously and even fatally ill. Even if you are not concerned about yourself, remember that wearing a mask is to protect others. Many residents in our community are at much greater risk should they become infected.
As the President of Spaulding, I have witnessed the devastation of the disease for hundreds of patients and their families. In addition, I have seen the extreme stress imposed on the thousands of caregivers in the Boston area health care community who have selflessly and courageously put themselves at risk to try to save and restore shattered lives. Personally, I lost my brother to COVID after he spent seven weeks in a hospital intensive care unit in Detroit and have supported a grieving family from a distance. Your choice is to help save lives by simply wearing a mask or to put them at risk by refusing to believe that it can make a difference.
David Storto
President, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital