The North Carolina mask ban hasnât been entered into law yet & already thereâs a story of a woman being intentionally coughed on & harassed.
The man demanded she remove her mask, called her a Liberal and himself a Conservative and tried to tell her masks were illegal in public places. She explained she had stage 4 cancer and was immune compromise and he responded by purposefully coughing on her.
This is disgusting behaviour but make now mistake - lawmakers are effectively encouraging this type of harassment. Banning medical masks emboldens those who seek to harm high risk and disabled individuals. We are already seeing it.
Itâs also fascinating that her attacker felt the need to call out his political affiliation (as well as make an assumption on hers).
I need people to understand masks arenât political. Covid isnât political. A virus is incapable of caring what side of the aisle youâre on - and a mask is a medical device to protect the health of the wearer (and others). This politicization of masks is mainly being driven by people who are angry about mandates at the height of the Covid pandemic - they consider the months they had to mask as the most egregious violation of their freedoms imaginable - and now theyâre lashing out at those who remind them of that time in their lives. They donât want to see masks (or disabled people) ever again.
Please keep pushing back. Speak out. Get loud. Let lawmakers know you wonât stand for bills that violate a personâs right to protect themselves and their health. The harassment will only get worse from here and we need to call out bad behaviour whenever it happens - and support each other through these difficult times.
https://www.wral.com/story/scared-to-put-on-my-mask-cancer-patient-says-she-was-intentionally-coughed-on-in-spat-over-mask/21478890/
#CovidIsAirborne #CovidCautious #CovidIsNotOver #MaskBan #BoycottNC #CleanAir #WearaMask #Disability #LongCovid #Ableism #Denial #CleanAir #Pandemic #PublicHealth #InfectionControl #Eugenics #SafeHealthcare #N95 #Respirators #MasksWork #MaskUp #Spoonie #Discrimination #NorthCarolina