Those of us in the senior citizen age range remember well the “Lone Ranger” television show. An ultra-nice itinerant defender of the law with his faithful Indian (Native American) sidekick Tonto, he wore a mask for reasons that, quite frankly, were never exactly clear. Everyone knew it was the Lone Ranger the moment they saw his mask, so what was he disguising? In fact, he was in disguise when he was NOT wearing his mask.

There is a lot of mask confusion these days. Of all the COVID craziness that we have encountered, it appears masks are the biggest note of contention. It is the one area that no one is neutral. If you are a “masker,” you look with disdain at those who are not wearing them. If you are a “nonmasker,” you look at those with the masks as looneys. OK, maybe this is a bit of an exaggeration, but in numerous conversations around our area in the past few months, this seems to be the battle lines that have been drawn.

We see this symbolized in our county government. Commissioner Metzger has vehemently denounced the mandatory use of masks and has pushed for them to be optional in county buildings. Commissioner Mirabito routinely wears a mask to every meeting and has respectfully disagreed with his colleague. At least one judge has remarked to me how strongly he believes in masks and was quite annoyed at the lifting of mandatory mask-wearing in the County Court House.

Along comes our Pennsylvania State Secretary of Health, Rachael Levine, who, on July 1st, mandated that masks are not only required inside businesses but are now required whenever anyone leaves home and in most outdoor settings. Governor Wolf stated in defending the action, “This mask-wearing order is essential to stopping the recent increase in COVID-19 cases we have seen in Pennsylvania. Those hot spots can be traced to situations where Pennsylvanians were not wearing masks or practicing social distancing — two practices that must be adhered to if we want to maintain the freedoms we have in place under our reopening.”

OK, we get it. This is serious. Mask up or else. Governor Wolf is clear that there is a cause and effect relationship between masks and the spread of the virus. Let’s look at that. The problem is that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is new, and therefore the researchers must start with what is generally true of viruses and go from there. This is why it was originally believed that a person could get COVID by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes. The CDC has now admitted, “This is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads, but we are still learning more about how this virus spreads.”

Yes, we are still learning. It appears the one pretty solid thing is that the disease is largely transmitted through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks in which these droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs.

However, and this is the part that is not generally known, the risk of transmission is strongly correlated with the duration and intensity of contact. Duration is defined as face-to-face contact within six feet with an infected person (symptoms or not) that is sustained for at least 10 minutes and maybe more. There is very little chance of passing COVID-19 from a passing interaction. The intensity is shown in a Harvard study that showed the risk of transmission among household members can be as high as 40%, whereas the risk of transmission from less intense and less sustained encounters is well below 5%.

So, why do I need to wear a mask while driving a car? Or playing golf, tennis, or riding a bicycle? There is almost zero chance of me being infected or infecting someone else in those activities. Yes, if I am in a high-risk category, I should routinely wear a mask in public. If I go into a healthcare facility, or if I am in a public place where there is no opportunity for social distancing or if I will be in a contained space for an extended period of time, yes, I should probably wear a mask. But for all intents and purposes, casual interaction does not require a mask.

Truth be told, the reason we have been mandated a “one size fits all” order on masks is that our state government does not trust us to do the right thing, and have admitted so. Pennlive.com reported on July 1st, “While Wolf has said a person breaks the law if they don’t wear a mask in situations such as entering a store, he and Levine have also downplayed the possibility of prosecuting violators. They have likened it to things like wearing shirts and shoes inside businesses that require them, or stopping at stop signs, saying people do those things not out of fear of punishment, but because they understand it’s the right thing.”

So, to be clear, to do the right thing, we must be ordered to do so, and if we don’t, we are breaking the law, but that law won’t be enforced anyway. Glad we cleared that up. Hi ho Silver, away!