• Mcalester News-Capital Editorial Board: OPINION: OUR VIEW: Set an example

Feb. 3—We're all tired of all the changes due to COVID-19 — but Pittsburg County Commissioners have a prime opportunity to set an example.

The commissioners typically don't wear protective facial coverings during their meetings despite everyone entering the Pittsburg County Courthouse is required to wear a mask.

Anyone entering the courthouse must use the handicapped entrance to have their temperature checked and must wear a mask.

District 18 District Judge Mike Hogan ordered anyone entering a courtroom at the courthouse must wear a protective facial covering. He also recently ordered the Pittsburg County Court Clerk's office closed due to COVID-19 concerns.

We understand mask-wearing is a hot-button issue for which decision makers will catch grief for any decision to follow or not enforce a mask mandate.

But taking a little heat for wearing or enforcing masks is worth it.

A scientific brief from the Centers for Disease Control shows masks help reduce community spread of the virus. The CDC and the World Health Organization recommend communities consistently wear masks to help slow the spread.

The Pittsburg County Health Department and Pittsburg County Emergency Management have delivered personal protective equipment across the area and worked with community businesses to take the 918 pledge — a promise to implement COVID-19 protocols, which include having employees wear masks.

Our community has been more fortunate than others in part because we are naturally more spaced out in a rural area.

But there are still 32 of our friends, family members and neighbors in Pittsburg Countywho have died from COVID-19, per the data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health on Tuesday.

Commissioners told us they felt safe and believed they were socially distanced during meetings.

Social distancing, aka physical distancing, is staying "at least 6 feet (about 2 arm lengths) from other people who are not from your household in both indoor and outdoor spaces," per the CDC.

The commissioners' chairs nearly touch in the Commissioners' Conference Room so unless a measuring tape can prove otherwise, it's highly unlikely they are sitting at least 6 feet away from each other.

Some commissioners said they already had COVID-19 — but that doesn't mean someone can't get the virus again or carry it on to someone else.

Masks help keep the virus from spreading to others and can help our community while science catches up to it.

Sure, masks are uncomfortable and occasionally make it difficult to hear others. But we have to remain vigilant against spread of the virus.

We've never said that masks are a cure — but they're proven to help contain potential outbreaks.

So we urge the commissioners to wear masks and ask again that everyone take precautions against the virus because we're all in this together.

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