Our View: Placing freedom ahead of public health | Opinion

A current assertion by the Whitley County commissioners is an ideal illustration of why our nation is coping with one more resurgence of COVID-19.

“In Whitley County, we imagine masking and immunizations are a call for people to make and shouldn’t be mandated,” learn the assertion issued by commissioners Chad Banks, George Schrumpf and Theresa Inexperienced.

The assertion rejected the thought of obligatory quarantines.

“We imagine people who could have been in shut contact however present no COVID signs must be allowed to attend work or faculty with out interruption,” the assertion learn. “We imagine in a common sense strategy to COVID that enables for particular person freedom.”

A reporter requested Indiana’s well being commissioner, Dr. Kristina Field, concerning the assertion throughout a statewide briefing on the pandemic.

To her credit score, Field remained calm. She identified what public well being consultants have recognized for months, that it’s completely doable to unfold the virus even earlier than you could have the slightest indication you is perhaps contaminated.

“That’s why this idea of people who find themselves asymptomatic can go to high school, folks which might be shut contacts when folks aren’t carrying masks can go forward and go to high school,” Field mentioned. “That’s why that idea doesn’t work. That’s completely incorrect and never an acceptable science-based decision-making course of.”

An acceptable science-based decision-making course of, in fact, is what now we have so typically lacked throughout this pandemic.

Fort Wayne tv station WANE Channel 15 requested the Whitley County commissioners what they considered the state well being commissioner’s response.

“The folks of Whitley County are good sufficient to do what’s proper on their very own with out being ordered,” the commissioners mentioned. “The intent of the assertion was merely to say that we belief folks to make their very own selections on how greatest to deal with this pandemic and don’t assist the heavy-handed responses to the pandemic that mandate quarantine, masks or vaccines.”

Whitley County not too long ago recorded 60 new instances of the virus in a single day. That’s the form of statistic it was seeing in January.

As of Aug. 29, simply over 48% of Whitley County residents eligible for a vaccine, greater than 16,000 folks, had been totally vaccinated. Which means practically 18,000 eligible county residents had not.

Throughout that Friday briefing, Field mentioned issues have been more likely to worsen. We’d now be dealing with the darkest days of the pandemic, at a time when now we have the instruments to defeat this virus and easily refuse to do it.

On the time of the briefing, practically 2,200 Hoosiers have been hospitalized, the very best quantity since January. 4 out of 10 well being districts had used up greater than 100% of the beds of their intensive care models.

Possibly the commissioners in Whitley County don’t need to subject a masks mandate or order constituents to get a vaccine. Heck, they won’t even have the authority to do this.

On the very least, although, our elected leaders must be encouraging accountable conduct. They need to be supporting the suggestions issued by public well being officers.

In different phrases, somewhat than worrying a lot about private freedom, possibly they should be worrying about protecting folks alive.