Letter to the Editor: "We must do all we can do to slow down COVID-19"

(The following Letter to the Editor has been submitted by Mary Lewis of Decorah):

"I was so pleased to hear that the Decorah City Council voted so strongly for a mask mandate.  It's the right thing to do.  I know there is a group of dissenters, but they shouldn't sway us from what epidemiologists recommend.

It's hard for some people to take precautions because they can't see the disease and may not know anyone who has it, but there is certainly overwhelming evidence that it is all around us.  I taught microbiology at Luther for many years and am particularly aware of the threat of infection. Mask wearing should be a duty of every citizen.  We all obey the speed limit don't we?  Not just to protect ourselves but everyone else.  This shouldn't be a point of individual freedom.  Especially at this time of a shocking increase in cases, we must do all we can to slow it down, for the sake of all of us, including the dissenters."