The only good thing about ever-evolving viruses is their reminder that we humans are not the masters of the universe, never fully in control of our own destiny. Their worst quality is the advantage of premature public invisibility, causing illness and death, while also causing panic in the streets due to a rational or irrational fear of the unknown. Will daily life become unbearable for weeks to come -- or will the latest viral eruption disappear as quickly as it arrived?Viruses are sort of like UFOs. Unless viral illnesses can undergo quarantine, there's little to be done about them until an immunization is developed, and even then the anticipated cure may not be all that effective. Regarding UFOs, UAP or whatever designation one wishes to apply to the untouchable, these, too, have a way of confounding and ridiculing current scientific knowledge -- and despite recent official revelations pretty much nailing down military concern about the enigma, the "cure" appears nebulous.
Because talk of the Covid-19 coronavirus occupies minds everywhere. . .
Here's another reason for the uninfected not to wear a mask: Health officials have emphasized the futility of non-infected people wearing masks to protect themselves against the virus, and the shortage of proper masks across the world obviously puts the health and very lives of hands-on medical workers in jeopardy.
Having once worked in hospital health care, encountering instances where I needed to don a mask for either my or the patient's protection, I often wondered whether the mere presence of an enclosed device on one's face wouldn't put the wearer in danger because usually harmless bacteria and viruses living on the face could temporarily be nourished by respiratory moisture expelled into the mask and facial environment -- thereby causing them to flourish and enter the mask wearer's system, stronger and able to cause harm to health care workers who might unknowingly be vulnerable to infection. And then there are. . .
Beards and mustaches: For some, facial hair is merely fashionable, while others follow religions which require a covering. For some men, hair conceals blemishes, either physical or emotional. Some guys are just too lazy to shave.
No matter. In the past we mentioned a small study, a sampling of miscellaneous beards which yielded, surprisingly, a disturbing number harboring microscopic bits of fecal matter. That's alarming enough, to be sure, but with the arrival of a new coronavirus come new warnings about beards. Essentially, medical professionals caution that beards may allow tiny openings between facial hair and face masks, potentially allowing viruses and bacteria to barge in unannounced and undetected.
How strange that some options may come down to choosing between the beard and the mask.
All may be futile anyway, because any virus can enter the body through the eyes, which conventional masks do not protect.
In the meantime, we'll hope that viral uncertainties don't escalate out of control. The world apparently owes a debt of gratitude to the Chinese doctor who blew the whistle regarding Covid-19 -- but, of course, he's dead now, a victim of both the virus and the disease of Chinese communism.
