Doctors have recommended wearing masks, so why doesn’t everyone do so?
That question was addressed at Thursday morning’s news conference from the University of Kansas Health System.
Some people who would have no trouble at all following doctors’ orders to have their broken leg put in a cast or to take their heart medications have taken the mask orders as a personal affront to their liberty and refused to wear them. But why?
One reason, according to psychologist Lauren Lucht, is that mask-wearing is inconvenient. The other reason is that it makes people admit they’re vulnerable.
“One of our defense mechanisms as humans is to convince ourselves that bad things don’t happen to good people,” said Lucht, who is the executive director of mental and behavioral health at KU Health System. “In psychology we call that belief in a just world. If I’m a good person, bad things won’t happen to me. However, it’s not a just world.”
Being a good person does not at all correlate with your risk of contracting COVID-19, she said. People are in a bit of denial, she said, and don’t want to be inconvenienced for something they believe they’re at an extremely low risk for catching or transmitting.
Lucht also explained why prisons have been doing a great job for inmates in preventing COVID-19, but sometimes the staff members are getting the disease.
She said sometimes in military-style systems people have a feeling of invincibility. They’ve been through some extreme pandemic-like circumstances previously, and they have always made it through, she said.
“This is really different,” Lucht said. “A pandemic is not normal. We can’t pretend it’s like another normal obstacle and if we just tough it out, we’ll make it through. We have to follow the pillars of infection control prevention, and make sure we are wearing our masks, washing our hands and keeping our distance when we can.”
At the child psychiatric facilities, there was some reluctance at first to wear masks, she said. Now there has been a huge improvement. In the early days, wearing a mask wasn’t normal to the youth there, but once it became part of normal life, everyone followed it. Kids are resilient and follow normal rules, she said.
The behavioral and mental health team members have been very busy, she said. As some people begin to feel vulnerable, and it isn’t something they’re used to feeling every day, that adds to the stress people are feeling, she said. Behavioral services have seen an increase in ambulatory requests for services and inpatient services, she said.
Thirty percent of Americans are admitting to some anxiety and depression related to the pandemic, and other experts might argue that the other 70 percent are lying, she said.
“I don’t know what island you might have lived in where this might not have inconvenienced an element of your life,” she said. “This becomes a stressor.”
The longer it goes on, they’re seeing people experiencing fatigue with all the inconveniences and the perception of vulnerability, she said. Then, some people have a fear of being a vector without knowing it and spreading the disease to those they love.
Some teenagers experience a sense of invincibility, but most eventually grow out of it, and realize they are actually human and they can get sick, she said.
But remember, even if you’re Superman and invincible, the people you care about are not, Lucht said. Even if it saves just one life, please wear your mask, keep your distance and wash your hands, she said.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, director of medical infection prevention and control at KU Health System, said there also are cultural differences, with American society not used to wearing masks. He said masks have become an analogy for personal freedoms and they shouldn’t be.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at KU Health System, said this society has always had freedom with responsibility, never absolute freedom. People can’t drive into a crowd, they can’t set fires and they can’t kill people randomly, he said.
When asked what they thought would be happening with COVID-19 one year from now, Lucht said the future is in people’s hands, and the future could look dramatically better if people follow the pillars of infection control.
Dr. Hawkinson thought a year from now could be better with improvements in systems for outpatients, therapies and vaccines. It will be better, but people will have to wait to get to those steps, he said.
Dr. Stites thought it would be a lot better in one year. At-home tests could be available. Antivirals and vaccines could be game changers, he said. They may not be all the way back by this time next year, but would probably be over half better, he said.
KU Health System reported 27 acute COVID-19 patients at the hospital, an increase from 26 on Wednesday, according to Dr. Hawkinson. There were eight patients in the intensive care unit, an increase from seven on Wednesday, and seven patients on ventilators, an increase from six Wednesday. There were 35 other COVID-19 patients who are still in the hospital but are out of the acute phase. HaysMed in Hays, Kansas, reported 19 inpatients Thursday morning, up from 18 on Wednesday, with two patients in the recovery phase.
Wyandotte County reported an additional 39 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, for a cumulative total of 7,630, according to the UG COVID-19 webpage. There were two additional deaths reported, for a cumulative total of 145.
Free testing continues on Friday
Free tests continue from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday at the UG Health Department, 619 Ann Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.
The tests now are open to asymptomatic people as well as those who have symptoms or have been exposed to COVID-19. Check with the UG Health Department’s Facebook page to see if there have been any changes in the schedule because of the weather or for other reasons.
Next week, the Health Department testing location is changing to the former Kmart store at 78th and State.
More information about testing is at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19.
The KU doctors’ news conference is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/649592085745732.
The KDHE’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/.
The UG COVID-19 webpage is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.
The Unified Government COVID-19 hub outbreak map is at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/.
To see an NEA list of schools that have had COVID-19 cases, visit https://app.smartsheet.com/b/publish?EQBCT=aa3f2ede7cb2415db943fdaf45866d2f.
The KC Region COVID-19 Hub dashboard is at https://marc2.org/covidhub/.
The CDC’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html.