Face masks of Essex: Residents weigh in on debate about face coverings
Photo courtesy Chittenden Mask Army.
ESSEX — On social media, often seemingly innocent posts can become political almost immediately. On the Essex Community Facebook page one of the main objects of contention is the use of face masks.
Links to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website, GIFs and incorrectly used Karen memes clog feeds with data dumping and personal insults. It seems there is no consensus in the Essex community on what masks can do to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. With Vermont now mandating mask use, some community members must comply with a public health guideline they feel it is their choice to ignore.
Dr. Cindy Noyes, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Vermont Medical Center, acknowledges the confusion that accompanied information on face masks back in March.
“Initially, face mask use was thought not to be of significant benefit. And the ‘why’ behind that, I think, is sometimes hard to exactly know. But one of the reasons was trying to preserve PPE for healthcare workers or frontline. I think the other piece is that there was a lot of question as to what the efficacy is of different types of masks,” said Noyes.
It’s precisely that kind of confusion that has Ethan Lawrence against face mask usage, though the 24-year-old welder has worn a face mask in public himself since before the mandate.
“When [masks] first came out, it was about, ‘Oh, you’re going to touch [COVID-19] off of something and then touch your face.’ And then they’re like, ‘Well, it must be aerosolized.’ I laugh because the CDC has posted many times, even the WHO has said the same thing, a healthy individual should not be wearing a mask. And they’ve gone back and forth on it, like three or four times,” said Lawrence.
This was true at the beginning of the year. In January, on the same day the first person-to-person transmission was discovered, the CDC announced that it was not recommending the use of face masks. But the CDC has recommended wearing face masks in public since April. Notably, the World Health Organization announced that masks should be reserved for sick people and their caretakers on April 6, three days after the CDC changed its tune. The WHO followed suit on June 5. Even President Trump consented to be filmed while wearing a mask.
While clear discrepancies in public health strategies have manifested between the national CDC and international WHO, they agree now: Masks should be worn in public when social distancing is not possible.
Essex residents mainly subscribe to CDC and WHO guidelines regarding masks. Even the most vocal anti-maskers tend to wear masks in public. In an effort to move the conversation from social media to news media, the Reporter interviewed a wide range of Essex residents about their views on face masks.
If you drive on Maple Street in the morning, you will likely see daycare provider Sheila Porter and her affectionately called “chickens” on their way to Maple Street Park and Pool.
“The kids are much better about wearing masks than I am. They don’t complain. They just know that that’s the way that it is. They have [masks] on when we’re inside. Sometimes they forget to take them off when they go to the table for breakfast,” Porter laughed, “but they really do a great job.”
Lauren Jordan has similar praise to give to her high school-age son, T.J. T.J., Jordan notes, has sensory issues that could make mask-wearing difficult for him.
“He can’t have tags on his shirt, and if the nub of the toe on his socks is in the wrong place, he can’t wear those socks. We were worried about how he would do wearing a mask for four hours [at his workplace] … So we started off with him wearing a mask for one hour, just around the house,” recounted Jordan. “It’s really amazing, he says, ‘Why wouldn’t people wear a mask? It’s just so simple.’”
Speaking of school, John Woodley, a retired K-12 teacher, laments that “As an educator, there’s a certain amount of sadness because I spent my whole life believing that people could change and learn. It’s an odd situation when people decide that’s not something they want to do.”
When asked about the information he’s heard or seen about masks in general, Woodley said, “The statistics get so complicated. Because I, in general, believe in the idea of wearing a mask, I’m not going to go into a whole lot of data to justify that. I think I’m doing the right thing.”
Glenn Thompson, 72, appears to agree with that statement, yet comes to the opposite conclusion. Thompson says that while he does wear a mask in public, he cannot wear one for more than ten minutes at a time without “gasping for breath.” He’s also mistrustful of the information that comes from doctors.
“A lot of the information is over-exaggerated. Every day I get onto one of the sites that has a run tab of how many have caught the virus, how many deaths, so I look at that and come to my own conclusions,” he remarked.
This mindset of mistrust begets the question: How do you decide which information to trust? Thompson says it’s a hard one to answer.
“I’ll take all kinds of information and try to decide which one is correct. I don’t know how else to put it.”
Alexis Dubief and her husband, Dr. Yves Dubief, on the other hand, know exactly what information is reliable.
At the time of the COVID-19 insurgence, the couple was visiting France, where Dr. Dubief hails from. Now, they’re back in America while Dr. Dubief conducts research at the University of Vermont on one of today's most relevant topics: fluid mechanics. Specifically, simulating droplet emission when we speak or sneeze, how those droplets move in the air and under what circumstances ventilation could be an issue.
“It’s really frustrating research because the one key element we don’t have is how many copies of the virus one needs to inhale to be infected … But the simulation [is] showing that aerosols stay in the air for a very long time,” Dr. Dubief explained.
Alexis added, “His models show clearly that … because we’re in a room that has no fans or ventilation with the windows closed, we are basically sitting in a cloud of each other’s droplets.”
“No one has definitive proof that masks are the best answer. But we have evidence that they do work,” concluded Dr. Dubief, outlining the subtle but important distinction between “proof” and “evidence.”
From the world of research, recent Essex High School graduate Elizabeth Mitchell takes us directly into the Essex community.
Mitchell is a server at Mimmo’s Pizzeria and Restaurant. The 18 year-old has been consistently wearing a mask since before she returned to work because she had friends who had contracted the coronavirus early in the pandemic. As a result, she viscerally reacts to those whom she sees unmasked in public.
“[When I see people not wearing a mask] it makes me quite angry, and then I’m automatically like, ‘Well, you don’t really care,’” she said.
Mitchell keeps updated by reading the New York Times, listening to Dr. Fauci’s interviews, and tuning into Governor Phil Scott’s press conferences.
“[Local government] is pretty influential for me,” she stated.
Dylan Giambatista couldn’t agree more. A state House representative for Essex Junction since 2017, Giambatista staunchly supports Scott’s new mask mandate. “We’ve seen a rise in cases across the country and we need to understand that even though Vermont has done a good job managing the pandemic, there are some things we can’t control, and a mask mandate is a proactive, preventative measure that I think will save lives.”
Giambatista notes that, for the most part, “In areas where people can’t practice social distancing, [Essex residents] are wearing masks. I’m very appreciative to everyone who is willing to put on their masks when they know they’re going to be in a situation where they’re in close quarters with others.”
While assured that the majority of people wear masks, Ewing Fox is more focused on those who do not.
On a trip to Lowe’s with his daughter, Fox found himself in the same aisle as an unmasked shopper.
“I stopped about ten feet back and I said, ‘Excuse me, would you please mind stepping back into that aisle?’ And he goes, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘Because I'm caring for someone who is at very high risk and you're not wearing your mask in public.’ He said, ‘So?’ I said, ‘So you have a responsibility.’ He goes, ‘Really?’ I said, ‘You need to step back,’ and I raised my voice quite a bit. And he stepped back. As I walked away, my daughter, she’s 11, she said, ‘Daddy, that was really awkward. But it was important,’” recounted Fox.
Fox’s story is a reminder that vulnerable people exist, however invisibly, behind masked caregivers; vulnerable people who stay home, follow all CDC guidelines and do everything correctly, yet can still fall dangerously ill because of a stranger’s inattention. Masks, cloth masks in particular, work to protect other people from you.
Judy Naef is someone whose health depends on strangers’ vigilance.
“My husband and I both have underlying diseases, and sadly, we haven’t seen our kids or grandkids or our friends or anybody we have met outside of this house since the first week of March. It’s been horrible. But because we have underlying diseases, when I see somebody without a mask, I get very upset,” she related. “The longer they don’t wear a mask, the more chance it is that we’re going to stay in longer.”
Stacie Gabert herself takes a less impassioned approach to masks, but certainly notes their importance.
“There are some people who don’t want to wear them, which I don’t really understand, but I think we wear them for other people … I can’t judge somebody in their circumstances, but I would prefer if [people] do [wear masks]. If I went somewhere where people weren’t wearing masks, I probably wouldn’t frequent there again,” she said.
On the subject of returning customers, Lori Lavallee’s barber shop is one of the small businesses that the lockdown impacted. Despite the economic hardship she’s facing, Lavallee has purchased disposable masks for customers who come in without and adapted her scissor skills to accommodate masks. But Lavallee has one big edit to some of her clients’ face masks.
“A lot of the guys that come in here, their masks are definitely gross, like they haven’t been washed. Even if it’s a disposable one, you can tell they’ve been wearing it for weeks, maybe months. I honestly don’t know if [clients would] be better off not wearing a mask because [they’ve] been breathing into this thing for a while,” she wondered.
Per an NPR interview with Dr. Daniel Griffin, an infectious disease expert at Columbia University, a cloth mask should be washed after each use and a disposable one thrown away. But Lavallee’s anecdote makes an important point: For optimal mask efficacy, they must be more than a performance, meaning used and washed regularly.
