MEMPHIS, Tenn. — I know there are people who wish the news media would just stop talking so much about the coronavirus pandemic. One of them is running for reelection to the presidency. But this commentary is not about him. This is about the foot-dragging in rural West Tennessee counties to impose mask mandates to help control the spread.
As Local 24’s Jeni DiPrizio reported Monday, several West Tennessee counties have positivity rates near or above 20 percent. But Dyer County is the only one that has reinstituted a mandate to wear masks in public through the end of the year. Other rural counties, such as Haywood, are also seeing a spike in cases. But that county’s mayor says wearing a mask is a suggestion – not a mandate.
The problem is, people in outlying counties have never taken COVID-19 seriously. To many of them, this was a big city problem. And they are taking their cues from the President, who has basically given up fighting the virus in favor of trying to stay in office.
This pandemic has affected 250,000 Tennesseans, and sadly has claimed more than 3100 lives. It is not magically going away, and wearing a mask is not a political issue – or an assault on individual rights. It’s a matter of public health designed to keep us all safe.
So here’s hoping our rural neighbors reconsider – and put on the masks. And that’s my point of view.
