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On wearing masks

To the editor:

After reading about the women in Ogdensburg who were protesting wearing a mask, I wanted to make a comparison.

You have a right not to wear sunscreen when you go to the beach and risk getting skin cancer, and it will have no effect on the rest of us, so it is your choice.

You can smoke in your own home or car, and risk lung cancer for yourself and family, but smoking in public places puts the rest of us at risk, so you should not do it.

The purpose of wearing a mask during this pandemic is not for your protection but to protect the rest of us from you or others who may be asymptomatic carriers, so if you go out into the public spaces, you must wear a mask for the rest of us.

Frankly, most of us don’t care if you are foolish enough to do things that may affect your life, but please respect the rest of us and do not put us at risk because of your desire for freedom of choice. If you don’t want to wear a mask, stay away from everyone else and do what you want — and don’t wear sunscreen, and keep smoking.

David G. Welch, MD

Lake Placid

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