The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

To The Eagle:

The legislators did a good job using the media to spread the fear of covid to us. They mandated a law that we must wear a face mask; else we be slapped with jail time and a fine if we don’t.

I’m no doctor but common sense tells us it’s not healthy to wear a mask, especially for long hours. We need oxygen to breathe in and breathe out to rid us of the carbon dioxide. No government has the right to order you to do something that violates your freedom of choice, especially when it involves your body. It wouldn’t be surprising that a person wearing a mask for long hours may develop health issues. There should be statistics like they do with seat belts; any deaths or injury if you wore a seat belt or not is reported. The same way should apply with face masks; if you got sick or died, whether you wore it or not, is reported.

Social distancing and wearing a mask just to stop the spread of the teeny droplets from a sneeze or a cough into this vast expanse of air is foolish. I’m sure over 80 percent of us don’t have covid in our system.

All the legislators needed to say is a deadly virus is spreading worldwide. It’s recommended to wear a face mask for your protection and wash hands frequently. This way we were warned and we had a choice. But they didn’t say that; instead they made us close shops, no work and stay home. We all know when we don’t work, our lives are disrupted financially. Unfortunately for many, it already has. Some think lives are more important than jobs. That’s true; but how are you going to feed the family, make house/rent payments, utilities?

I’m mad at our legislators for using the media to plant negative fear and to make us appear like weaklings instead of challenging it head on with a positive fight. We are strong and better than that. It feels like we’re living as the “12 monkeys” where we’re treated more as guinea pigs instead of as humans.

Toni Below

Cathlamet