Manatee Commissioner Vanessa Baugh opposes masks. She should resign | Letter to the editor

In the past two days, 299 of our fellow Manatee County citizens have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Probably another couple of hundred this weekend will be diagnosed. It is quite probable that a great number of these could have been avoided if only our Manatee County commissioners had the guts to issue a countywide mandatory order for wearing facial coverings to help stem the spread of this disease.

Unfortunately, several members of the commission have seen fit to view the pandemic as a political issue instead of a medical emergency. SHAME ON YOU.

Commissioner Vanessa Baugh said, according to the newspaper, “she would never wear a mask, her business would never mandate it, go ahead and fine me.”

That is about the most ignorant statement I have ever heard. She has put political positioning over the lives of the citizens of Manatee County. She is a President Trump supporter. Well, so am I, but that doesn’t sway me from understanding the basic premises of public health and safety. I guess the COVID-19 pandemic won’t be real for you unless your husband or one of your children or grandchildren contract the virus and die from it.

Commissioner Baugh, it is time for you to resign from the commission. Please, county commissioners, face reality. COVID-19 is not going away for a very long time. This time next year we will still be counting the daily positives and deaths unless we take appropriate measures.

Masks are not the 100% solution, but they are a significant piece of the puzzle in reducing the spread of this virus.

Robert M. Fields

Bradenton