Gov. Spencer Cox says he will wear a mask more often, but his “extreme mask” comment provokes criticism.
(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Dr. Marc Harrison, CEO of Intermountain Healthcare, previously thanked attendees for wearing a mask during Governor Spencer J. Cox and Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson’s update on the pandemic in course, August. 31 of 2021 at the Capitol. Harrison, who has multiple myeloma, a blood cancer, told those who didn’t wear a mask in the room that if they had COVID-19 and didn’t know it, they could kill him.
With some uneasiness, Dr. Marc Harrison took off his N95 face mask in a room of state officials, health experts and journalists.
Harrison, president and CEO of Utah’s largest hospital system, Intermountain Healthcare, told reporters Tuesday at Governor Spencer Cox’s monthly COVID-19 meeting about his medical history: he has multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer , which is in remission after a bone marrow transplant and experimental CAR T cell therapy, leaving him immunocompromised.
“I would normally avoid a group like this,” Harrison told reporters. “I hope everyone who doesn’t wear masks doesn’t wear the delta variant, because if you do, you could kill me. That’s serious.”
Harrison urged all Utahns to wear a mask in public settings, as well as get vaccinated, stop the spread of misinformation, and “put virtual arms around” health workers.
The message even reached Cox, who said, “It’s been documented a lot how much I hate masks,” even planning to burn his mask on July 4th.
“As much as I don’t like it, I’ll try to wear a mask more often, especially when I’m on the side of unvaccinated people and immunocompromised people,” Cox said. “I will try a little harder, so that I can protect people like Dr. Harrison and other immunocompromised or struggling people, and even those who have decided not to get the vaccine.”
Cox acknowledged that it will not be a perfect model for wearing masks. “There will be times when I don’t put on a mask,” he said, “and someone will take a picture of me and some of you will lose your mind. And that’s fine.”
Later, during Tuesday’s briefing, Cox appeared to be exasperated because the masks have become a point of political inflammation.
“The mask thing is so, so, so disproportionately blown,” Cox said. “Masks are not as effective as most pro-mask crowds argue. They are a tool and have some impact. … We know he does something. Probably not even as people think.
Medical studies do not agree with Cox’s assessment and have shown the effectiveness of the massive use of masks to stop the spread of COVID-19, although the use of mandatory masks has been shown. it is less effective.
Cox noted that both Grand County and Salt Lake City have implemented mask mandates in their schools, which can become real-world testing cases of how well masks work to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“At the same time, masks are not the evil that others have portrayed them,” Cox said. “For most people, masks are a drawback at worst.”
Cox added that “anti-masking and extreme masking should just be a little over the top and try to have a little common sense here. And, unfortunately, this is what is missing from this whole discussion: a little common sense, a little nuance, a little grace, a little understanding ”.
Cox’s phrase “Extreme masks” started a small firestorm on Twitter, such as a reference post Jason Voorhees, the hockey masked killer from the “Friday the 13th” movies, as an example.
On his Twitter account, the Utah Democratic Party urged people to call Cox’s office to “ask him what the difference is between an” extreme masquerade “and a” person worried about a deadly pandemic. “
Harrison said he appeared at the briefing on Tuesday to highlight the efforts of health workers “who are fighting the brave fight in the face of this pandemic.”
At Intermountain’s reference hospitals – “the big ones,” Harrison said, which handle the busiest traffic, intensive care units have a capacity of 103%. Across the entire Intermountain system, he said, the capacity of the ICU is 105%.
Typically, Harrison said, ICUs operate at about 75% of capacity, treating people suffering from emergencies such as strokes, heart attacks and car accidents. COVID-19, according to Harrison, “sharpens things” and accounts for between 30% and 40% of patients filling ICU beds.
Last weekend, he said, Intermountain ICU teams in Utah saw five COVID-19 patients die, “and I guess, according to statistics, each of these was an preventable death.” ICU doctors and nurses “pointed to death and destruction,” he said, “but most cannot be avoided.”
Harrison said, “When you lose a patient, it takes a little out of your emotional bank account. Some capital is withdrawn. We usually replenish it with great savings we make, helping families in extraordinary circumstances and helping patients survive. At this time, the balance is overdue. Withdrawals far exceed deposits. “