By John Estridge
Franklin County Health Board members voted unanimously to make wearing masks in public mandatory for residents and visitors to the county.
The Tuesday, July 21, vote came after a nearly one-hour, passionate discussion on the subject.
Health board members voted on a motion that said “we require the public to wear a mask when you are in public.” And that goes for residents and visitors.
The county’s health coordinator said per Indiana Code 16 the wording on the motion can be tweaked after the motion is passed. Health board members said they plan to contact the health board attorney, former Franklin Circuit Court Judge Eugene Stewart, to write up the resolution.
Earlier in the meeting, the county health nurse Angie Ruther reported the county has 27 new cases since July 1 with 18 reported in the last eight days. She said that is the biggest increase since April. Two of those who tested positive, are in critical care with a third hospitalized. Also, a 5-year-old child has tested positive. She said there are now 153 total cases in the county. There have been eight FC residents die of the COVID-19.
Franklin County Commission President Tom Linkel, who spoke through a remote phone hookup, said he did not want a mandatory mask order in Franklin County.
FC Health Officer Dr. Darrell Brimhall asked Linkel what he was basing his argument on.
“I was hoping to make it so it’s not mandatory,” Linkel said. “I don’t care if we want to use wording … I don’t care what wording you use, myself, I don’t want to make it mandatory.”
Brimhall asked Linkel to explain his reasoning.
“I don’t know if everyone is acceptable to wearing a mask all the time out in public,” Linkel said. “I think we’re going to get so much negative feedback against this. I just don’t want to go there.”
Brimhall started his reply with a question.
“Tom, how blunt do you want me to be?” Brimhall asked.
“I think you can highly recommend it,” Linkel said. “My feeling is it needs to be a personal choice.”
“So, you are not basing your assessment or your decision on science and what the science has shown, correct?” Brimhall asked. “Because you don’t have any other ground to stand on in terms that is your decision other than you don’t want to hurt people’s feelings.”
Brimhall said a mandatory order to wear masks may expedite the nation back to normalcy. Several times in the ensuing discussion, Brimhall talked about efforts in Europe, which have been viewed to be effective against the COVID-19 spread, such as mandatory orders to wear masks.
“I’m not like saying ‘oh, we need to keep the rate to zero,’” Brimhall said. “The whole thing is coming down to what kind of normalcy do we want to come back to … when we see Europe implementing mandatory masks, yes there are going to be exceptions on why people can’t wear them, but as a rule, they have been going back to normal life.
“Yes, it sucks wearing these uncomfortable things for a number of reasons,” he continued. “But, right now your logic is based on the feelings and kickbacks rather than science.”
Linkel said he did not know what parts of the COVID-19 science he believes at this point.
“So, what’s the point in having someone like me (county health officer)?” Brimhall asked.
Brimhall said the scientific facts concerning the virus have come slowly due to lack of data.
“But now it’s been going on long enough we have more and more studies,” Brimhall said.
Brimhall likened the wearing of masks to be similar to a “no passing zone” or a “stoplight.” A person may be in a hurry and want to pass where they should not or go through a stop light, but the public accepts those rules.
“We have learned that is a good idea,” Brimhall said.
However, Brimhall said the proliferation of social media sites like Facebook allows misinformation to go right beside real information.
“I’m not trying to be in your face, but this is frustrating,” Brimhall said. “You’re making an assessment for everyone. Will there be kickback? Absolutely. Because we’re under the delusion, in America, that everybody’s opinion matters, number one. And, number two that everyone needs to be heard.”
He said with Facebook and other social media outlets, a person can publish any idea they want whether or not they have any science or facts to back it up.
“We’re more likely to believe an Amazon review than we are absolutely good evidence on masks,” Brimhall said.
Instead of arguing the facts, people against masks want to argue about liberty and freedom, he said. One person told Brimhall that it may not be possible to contain a pandemic in a Democracy, and that may be a correct statement. However, democracies in Europe have made masks mandatory, he said. There were kickbacks and protests from it, but the governments have stayed the course and are seeing positive results, Brimhall said.
According to Brimhall, they are getting back to a normalcy.
He also said people accept the need to wash one’s hands before eating.
“We say that’s good science, but with this, we want to debate and debate and debate,” Brimhall said. “And people, who are making decisions, don’t have an accurate assessment of the evidence.”
At one point, Brimhall said if the mandatory mask resolution was not adopted, he would resign.
The health board members listened quietly to Brimhall, but Brimhall was not on an island alone. At one point, each member was asked about their feelings on masks. One member played devil’s advocate about a couple of points, but to a person they said they supported mandatory masks.
Board member Jennifer Profitt, who was also on a remote phone hookup, said through evidence-based research, mandatory masks are the best way to protect one’s self and a community. She said that is the best way to improve the economy and get the economy back on track.
However, watching the science in action can often be confusing.
“The scientific method is you have a hypothesis; you test it; unfortunately, that’s taking place in real time,” Profitt said. “I think the public, and rightfully so, they view that and think we don’t know what we’re talking about or that there is an agenda.
“But the only agenda I have as a health board member is to ensure the safety of those who live in this county,” she continued.
She said the health board members have to think of the almost 24,000 residents who call Franklin County home.
“The science clearly says the wearing of facemasks is the best thing that we have right now to deal with this pandemic,” Profitt said. “Why not?”
It is not clear when this will go into effect or who will be the enforcement unit. In Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio and Butler County, Ohio, where masks are mandatory, police agencies have refused to enforce it. In those communities, people are asked to report violators to the local health departments.
And those health departments have emphasized they are being in an educational mode about the mandatory mask rules.
So far, according to an article dated July 21, on Fox 59, five Indiana counties have made wearing a mask mandatory. They are: LaPorte, Marion, Elkhart, LaGrange and St. Joseph.
In nearby Wayne County, according to a Palladium-Item article dated July 15, that county’s health board strongly recommended mandatory masks, but to the date of the article, the Richmond City Council and the Wayne County Commissioners have refused to make it mandatory.
Health board members were asked how they were going to communicate this to the county residents and the tens of thousands of visitors to the lake and other tourist attractions in the county every week. One answered social media. Dave Fehlinger, county sanitarian, said the Cincinnati media should be contacted. Another person said getting Gov. Holcomb to announce it during his press conferences would also publicize it.
