By Kevin Maxwell —
I think we can all agree that no one wants to wear a mask, especially in Arizona, in the summer. But there is something I want more than a little comfort. I want our businesses healthy.
I want this pandemic behind us once and for all. It is apparent to me now that this will require a vast community collaborative effort to achieve. I want our businesses to be operating at full capacity with no restrictions. As long as we continue to implement halfhearted measures, our economy will continue to move along at less than full potential.
I empathize with those who say it is an overreach by government, but we have never been through a health crisis like this. The health care experts at the highest level tell us that wearing masks will help protect people from getting sick and possibly dying. That is not a recommendation I take lightly.
Honor Health reports three times the number of COVID-19 inpatients as compared to a month ago. Arizona is all over the national news for the accelerating rates of infection.
I comply with the mandatory mask proclamation until we are told that the trend in Covid-19 has substantially diminished. I do not believe that this is a threat to our personal freedoms. Here the ask is small. Cover your face and mouth temporarily while in public until the proclamation has been lifted. This is a small price to pay for the health and safety of everyone involved.
Kevin Maxwell is a candidate for Scottsdale City Council.