By Ken Robinson

Managing Editor

Watching the push and pull of opinion about wearing a mask to reduce the possibility of getting infected with the coronavirus leaves the head spinning.

Why do otherwise right-thinking Americans turn first to politicizing the simple act of covering their mouths to protect others by showing their disdain for the act and for their fellow man?

Are these the same people who have to touch the paint after seeing a ‘wet paint’ sign? Do they also have to walk out onto what appears to be a frozen lake to see if it can hold their weight? Or run their fingers across the blade of a knife to test it’s sharpness?

The notion of following the leader,  according to our most visible scientist, has led to many deaths from Covid-19. And now some of those followers, as elected officials, are agreeing to don a mask as the body count mounts in their community.

I cannot accept the claim that political leaders like Gov. Jay Inslee have some sort of evil motive to thwart the re-election hopes of Donald Trump  by insisting people in this state put on a mask when in public.

The rising numbers of infections really tells the tale for all to see. Are the reporting agencies making up these dramatic numbers because they don’t like the president? All all the scientists in a cabal to determined to  defeat him?

Still, as the numbers increase, I would like to see a higher degree of reporting about who is getting infected, what part of the community they hail from and whether all facilities that house people with assisted living are now obligated to report cases of infection. The difficulty of contact tracing leaves open the question of whether someone you have been in contact with has inadvertently passed along the virus.

When you get a delivery from Amazon or Costco through Instacart, do the things you ordered have a risk for infecting you?

The virus seems to have a stealthy nature, infecting people of all ages and health condition. And with each passing day, as we wish for a return to ‘normalcy’ more of us are getting sick.

The least we can do is wear a mask.