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Letter to the Editor: Here’s what I know

September 28, 2021

I would like someone to explain Constitutional law to me. I am not an expert. I have never studied law. If you want legal advice, I’m not a good resource.

I have studied medicine. It is astounding to me that many people suddenly have so much expertise in Constitutional law and in medicine. Why do I say this? Well, because I have a background in medicine, I see the same thing play out with things I actually DO know about.

Here an example; I’ve heard people concerned that their children can’t learn while wearing a mask because, “Our students should not be forced to suffocate and breathe carbon dioxide for seven to eight hours during a time when their brains need oxygen to learn.” These same people tell us that masks don’t work to mitigate the transmission of COVID. Why do they say this? I’ve asked this question and the answer I usually get is that the viral particles are too small to be caught by a mask. Therefore, the masks are useless. This is partially true. Partially. Bear with me, I’ll explain.

If an oxygen molecule can’t get through a mask (“forced to suffocate”), then how can a viral particle get through? It like saying your bicycle can’t fit through the door of your garage, but a semi truck can drive in without damaging the structure. A viral particle (the semi truck) is larger than an oxygen molecule (the bicycle). Oxygen is literally two atoms of oxygen bonded together. Two atoms. How many atoms make up a viral particle? I don’t know. More than two, that for sure.

Medical professionals wear masks every day. They don’t do it because it a testament to their stamina. They do it to protect their patients. That right. Surgeons wear masks during surgery to protect the sterile field around your open body cavity. They do not suffer a lack of oxygen while wearing a mask, nor do they suffer from CO2 poisoning while operating. Before you tell me that extra oxygen is “piped in through the vents,” I’m gonna nip that urban legend right here. It not true. Pure oxygen is not piped in through hospital vents. First of all, O2 is flammable. That would be a heck of a fire hazard! So, that doesn’t happen.

I will concede that viral particles are too small to be caught by most masks worn by the general public today. (Just like oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules are too small to be trapped by a mask). BUT, when we wear a mask, we aren’t trying to catch aerosolized viral particles (viral particles floating around freely in the air). Fortunately, one single COVID particle isn’t enough to make you sick.

But here why masks work to mitigate COVID transmission in schools: Kids talk, yell, yawn, sing, cough, and sneeze in school. All of these innocent and sometimes involuntary actions cause droplets of spit and/or mucus to be expelled into the air. A droplet of these bodily fluids is a perfect place to find concentrated levels of viral particles all neatly packaged into an effective delivery system. A droplet IS caught by most masks if it is worn over both the nose and mouth. So, in the same way doctors don’t want to accidentally contaminate the surgical site with a sneeze or a cough or spit expelled when they speak, we wear masks to prevent spreading potentially COVID-laden droplets. Can oxygen get through the masks? Yes. Can CO2 get through the masks? Yes. Can a single viral particle floating around in the air get through a mask? Yes. Can DROPLETS of bodily fluids get through a mask? Not very well, if the mask is covering both your nose and mouth.

Another question: “You’re vaccinated! Why should you care if I wear a mask or not?” I may be vaccinated, but we all know that the vaccine does not put a protective bubble around your body. COVID can still enter your body if you’ve been vaccinated. It can still make you sick. Why? COVID makes you sick by getting into your cells and hijacking them to create more COVID particles. The vaccine tells your body what to look for and what to attack usually (statistically speaking) before COVID has a chance to hijack, use, and kill too many of your cells — putting you in the hospital and on a ventilator. For people with lung and breathing issues like asthma or COPD, smokers or people with Interstitial Lung Disease, who already have sensitive airways, COVID can be especially dangerous. So, if I’m vaccinated but you expose me to COVID because you aren’t wearing a mask, I could take that virus home to my unvaccinated child who is too young to have gotten the vaccine yet. You could send COVID home with me to my immune-compromised parent, who is undergoing cancer treatment. You could send COVID home to my quadriplegic spouse, who is already on a ventilator. Here the thing, if I’m vaccinated — I might have COVID, but my body is so prepared to handle it (because of the vaccine) that I might not even be aware that I have it! I could give it to you! So, even vaccinated, I wear a mask.

“The messaging has been inconsistent and confusing — why should we trust it with respect to COVID protocols?” I get it. The previous administration screwed up. He didn’t listen to the professionals, preferring to tell us COVID would “just go away.” The first message we got was: “Don’t worry about it” and “It totally under control.” As for the medical and scientific communities, let take a quick look: COVID was a novel virus to humans. That means we’d never seen it before in humans. As such, there was no data specific to this virus to guide decision-making. Compound that with a president who literally told his advisors that they couldn’t explain the dangers we were facing publicly, and you get a mess — which we got. As the scientists were given more of a voice and as the data became more abundant and clear, we got new messaging. And, it pretty consistent: “get vaccinated” and “wear a mask in public places — especially indoors.” When you know better, you do better. Until then, you have to work with what you’ve got — and, at the beginning, public health officials didn’t have much.

This “constitutional overreach” that I keep hearing about it confusing to me. Mandates put in place on the advice of public health professionals, doctors, infectious disease specialists and people responsible for keeping the general population safe are logical responses to impending danger. That why they were “invented” (see? I don’t have the jargon down here … not my area). As I understand it, a “mandate” is a “temporary law” enacted in a hurry for the common good of a population. A “regular law” — one that is voted on and enacted by legislature would not suffice in the case of an emergency like a pandemic because the process is too cumbersome to be effective in a timely manner. So, “emergency mandates” fill that void.

Of course, we wouldn’t need to fill the void if everyone, like during WWII, pulled together to do what best for their neighbors, their towns, their cities, their communities. My grandmother never spoke of people protesting food rationing during the war. She never talked about people getting angry because they had to turn all the lights out and use black-out curtains. People did these things because it was patriotic to do what was good for the country. There was none of this, “But it tyranny!” Or “That against my freedom!” Nope. People pulled together and worked to get through the emergency, knowing that when it was over, rationing would be gone and black-out curtains would be repurposed. And for those people who insist “once freedoms are taken away, they don’t give them back!” — You guys can remove your black-out curtains and you can buy bacon now! The government gave those freedoms back decades ago! Really!

Let fight this war together, people. Get vaccinated. Wear a mask. It for the good of your community.

Jeanine Castillo-Miller
School of Choice Parent, Manchester Community Schools

Views expressed in any Letter to the Editor are always exclusively those of the author. Do you have something you want Manchester to know? Send your Letter to the Editor to themanchestermirror@gmail.com.

by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.