Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

On July 15th, our county mayor published the ‘official’ position of mask wearing in Lewis County on the “Jonah Keltner - Lewis County Mayor” FB page. I have commented on this position numerous times in FB without any acknowledgement and emailed Senator Hensley, Mayor McKinight and Mayor Keltner directly, so this is my next step in addressing this very vital issue that is not being attended to in our county. Please allow me to paraphrase Mr. Keltner’s post and his reasons why our county should not be mandating the wearing of masks:

A) Doesn’t feel it is right for him to mandate (if the Governor did not feel our county mayors were qualified as a County Mayor, would he have given them the authority to do so?)

B) The Sheriff and the Judge do not want to wear them (not a good reason, but for all of the photos posted on this FB page from the onset of the pandemic, only ONE is showing anyone wearing masks (the post asking for votes) despite the stated position that it is supported. In fact, there are many photos on that FB page - tightly packed rooms with no one wearing masks and a visit to a COVID testing site with no one wearing masks – so where are the role models our residents need to get behind this much needed action by EVERYONE in this county?

C) Various research does not support the concept (simply untrue).

D) Mr. Keltner was afraid of setting a precedent here. (Frankly, I am shocked vaccinations were even brought into this conversation).

E) Not enough people have gotten ill or died yet in Lewis County.

On August 4th, a six year old Tennessee child (Gigi Morse) was diagnosed with COVID after being sick for several days, was laid down for a nap and never woke up. A child adopted from the Ukraine three years ago, she has 5 other siblings in the family, two with special needs as well. How many more of these horror stories do we need to hear about until 100% of the counties are mandating the wearing of masks? In Tennessee, 27 of our counties are mandated (4.5 million residents), 26 have outright rejected the authority given to them by the governor and the rest of them are undecided, the latter two categories representing over 2 million residents). There are currently close to 4 million Tennessee residents who have not been tested for COVID and statistics indicate there are probably 250 thousand asymptomatic cases of COVID in those untested numbers.

1. Until mandated masks are a fact in all of Tennessee, there is absolutely no control over the spread of this virus to our residents from inside/outside the county and state.

2. The evidence and science support the facts that masks, safe distances, frequent washing of hands, etc. help in controlling the virus.

3. Our state contains the major conduit of freight moving from the West to the East Coast - both overland via tractor trailer and rail. Without a statewide mask mandate (a visual representation of steps being taken to stop the contamination), we as a community are as unprotected as we can possibly be against COVID.

4. Children need to get back into school for a feeling of normalcy. Teachers need to feel safe when going into a classroom to educate.

5. We want our economy back up and thriving, our businesses open and people working. There are MANY of us in Lewis County who will not support a business that does not require their employees to be wearing masks.

6. The two largest merchants of this county now require the wearing of masks: Walmart and Tractor Supply Company. I understand elected officials are afraid to do anything that might cause them to lose votes, but dead people do not vote.

7. You will ALWAYS have someone who says they will not abide by the law or it is restrictive of their personal liberties.

8. Dr. Deborah Berx and the Governor stated quite clearly the rural areas of our state are now getting hit the hardest with COVID numbers.

9. When members of a community along with its leaders are seen wearing masks, the residents have a greater sense of freedom to move about, get back to normal and enjoy their lives.

10. There is not ONE valid reason to NOT issue a statewide mandate for the wearing of masks, practicing of safe distances, etc.

I urge Mayor McKnight, Senator Hensley and Mayor Keltner– who has the power to mandate masks and SDP – to utilize this power given to the county mayors by the Governor of Tennessee.

Linda Nelson
Hohenwald