A call to action for Lexington: When you’re in public, please wear a mask.
Over a career as a registered nurse that spanned 40 years, I spent a lot of time working in a mask … the personal protective equipment all members of our healthcare community rely upon.
Now, as Mayor, I once again find myself working in a mask. I have masks with blue horses, masks that identify me as the mayor, “Go Big Blue” masks, plaid masks, flowered masks, a couple of N95 masks … yes, masks to fit any occasion.
I wear a mask as mayor for the same reason I wore a mask as a nurse … to protect myself, and to protect others. As Mayor, I also wear a mask so we can continue to re-open our economy, get people back to work, and so our children can go back to school this fall.
The experts agree: it is perhaps the easiest, simplest, most effective thing I can do, as an individual, to slow down the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s an opportunity for every person to make a real contribution, an important contribution, to the greater good.
You have the same opportunity. Yes, they can be hot and uncomfortable. Yes, your glasses may steam up. Yes, it can feel like it’s hard to breathe. But, yes, virtually all of us can do it … so when you’re in public, please, just do it.
Our COVID-19 numbers right here in Lexington are headed in the wrong direction. Our deaths are up; our Coronavirus case numbers are up.
A total of 31% of Lexington’s total COVID-19 cases have occurred in the last 15 days. As of last Thursday (July 16), there have been 2,248 COVID-19 cases in Lexington since the outbreak started March 8, with 695 since July 1. There have been a total of 40 deaths here; 11 since July 1.
We have worked hard to keep the numbers down, and thanks to our citizens, we have had considerable success. In the early months, citizens stayed home and, if they had to go out, observed social distancing.
Recently, we began to re-open the economy, and suddenly cases and deaths began to increase at an alarming rate.
In the past few days I’ve gotten several emails from citizens asking me to make wearing a mask optional. Several citizens wrote that making mask-wearing mandatory, as ordered by Governor Andy Beshear, has “no place in a free society.”
Of course there are some citizens who cannot wear masks because of physical limitations. As for the rest of you, come on … wearing a mask isn’t about politics, and it isn’t about individual rights under the Constitution. It’s about commonsense in a global pandemic. It’s about trying to keep yourself safe, your family safe and others safe when case numbers of COVID-19 are on the rise.
If you want our economy to continue to open up so we can get people back to work, as I do, wear a mask. If you want to get back to students on campus, football games, and basketball games, as I do, wear a mask. If you want to protect your family, especially our vulnerable senior citizens, as I do, wear a mask. If you want children to be safe in school this fall, as I do, wear a mask.
Lexington, this is a call to action! Let’s turn our increasing numbers around. Maintain social distance, wash your hands frequently, and, please, wear a mask when you’re in public.
Linda Gorton, a registered nurse, is Mayor of Lexington.