Correcting a kirker is like teaching a card trick to chicken. Not. Gonna. Happen.

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Correcting previous letter

In his Sept. 24 letter to the editor, Otto Keyes makes several points that should be corrected.

First, Mr. Keyes states that “the odds of . . . dying from (not with COVID-19) is .02 percent.” This is incorrect. Our population is approximately 330,000,000 and if we all became infected, a .02 percent death rate would result in 66,000 deaths. We have surpassed 200,000 deaths. We currently have 6,790,000 virus infections and with 200,000 deaths, the death rate is approximately 3 percent.

Second, Mr. Keyes states, “Statistics show that the mask mandate has had little to no effect on case numbers except in the minds of politicians.” I don’t know where Mr. Keyes gets these statistics, but practice shows exactly the opposite.

Third, Mr. Keyes states: “In fact, case numbers increased significantly after the mask mandate.” Again, I don’t know where Mr. Keyes gets this information. But, he may be correct. Mask mandates have been issued after large infection outbreaks and since there is a two-week lag between infection and symptoms, during that two-week period infections may well have increased even after masks were mandated. However, only after people began wearing masks, did infections decrease

Fourth: Mr. Keyes states: “seldom changed masks result in constantly breathing contaminated air.” Mr. Keyes is probably correct. The entire point of mask-wearing is to preclude an infected person from expelling water droplets in the breath containing the virus. That person is in fact rebreathing these virus-containing air droplets, but the mask precludes these exhaled droplets from being breathed in by others and thus infecting them. In this sense, mask-wearing is a matter of compassion and respect for the health and well-being of our neighbors.

Finally, Mr. Keyes goes on to pontificate on unrelated matters, which need not be addressed. Mr. Keyes’s argument epitomizes the type of misinformation and unfounded views that have resulted in our COVID-19 disaster.

Mark Mumford
Tacoma

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