Snohomish barbershop could be superspreader of Covid

I find it ironic that recently in The Herald, the article about the barber who opened for business against the Covid restrictions was on the opposite page from the article about the “superspreader” clusters of Covid cases. One cluster that was mentioned was the Skagit Valley Chorale, so very close to home.

It’s easy to see, for anybody who understands the germ theory of disease, how the barber could be a killer. From the article we know customers were waiting in line inches apart, no masks. We know the barber himself is in the high-risk category, and also unmasked.

To apply the lessons from the chorale, say one person in line is not feeling well, but dang it, he really needs a haircut. He has Covid, unknown yet as a carrier. He breathes on the people in front of him and in back of him, then breathes on the barber. The barber is exposed and within 14 days he is very sick. In the meantime he has exposed every single one of his customers to the virus; remember no mask. Infected customers take the virus home and expose the rest of the family, and who knows how many others. Someone’s bound to get sick.

I wonder how much luck they had shooting that virus, since guns seem to be the answer to everything. These restrictions are in place to protect everyone and if these people think it limits their “freedom” then they need to remember with freedom comes responsibility. Now it is on them to wear a big round Covid patch on their hats to let the rest of us know to avoid them, well, like the plague.

This virus is deadly to many and we also deserve the freedom to stay alive.

Linda Roe

Everett

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