Warning, fairness are key in masks coverage

We wish to make clear the place of the Massachusetts Public Well being Affiliation relating to masks mandates in hospitals and different well being care settings as offered within the Might 11 editorial, “Doctors, not government, should make mask rules in health care.” The MPHA has advocated for a cautious strategy to enjoyable protecting measures equivalent to masking as we enter this new period of residing with COVID-19. The choices for masking insurance policies in hospitals and different well being care settings require a considerate strategy that considers the chance of those that are most weak to extreme well being penalties from COVID. Relatively than common masking in well being care settings changing into everlasting, hospitals would possibly take into account masking in well being care settings to be a common precaution, particularly in high-risk environments.

Taking steps to supply entry to common security for all sufferers and workers needs to be the driving issue when setting insurance policies. Bringing an fairness lens additionally means contemplating conditions equivalent to the priority about potential violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Act that was raised within the editorial by our ally Colin Killick, government director of the Incapacity Coverage Consortium. Why ought to the onus to safeguard one’s well being and security be placed on probably the most weak? One of many many classes from the previous three years is the crucial to heart fairness in coverage making and institutional approaches to public well being. To do in any other case is to dishonor the tens of 1000’s who’ve died from and been affected by COVID in Massachusetts.