Mayor's Minute: August 2020

Effective June 29, the Jefferson County Health Department (JCHD) mandated that employees and customers or patrons must wear a face covering while in public buildings such as grocery stores, pharmacies and retailers — and restaurants, while not at your table dining. The city of Mountain Brook immediately issued its own ordinance strengthening the JCHD mandate.

Most of the feedback I have received has been an overwhelming sigh of relief and thank you for helping keep everyone safe. I have also received a handful of angry emails stating that requiring a mask both infringes on people’s rights to make our own choices and that masks are scientifically proven to be ineffective.

While there is some debate about the effectiveness, or even harm, of wearing a mask, my reading suggests that the most prominent research strongly favors them, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Much of this research indicates that wearing a mask can reduce the spread of COVID-19 by 50% to 75% or more.

In my “other life,” I own an investment management and financial advisory firm, and much of our work is assessing various forms of risk versus return. Ideally you are looking for a strategy that is “low risk with a potentially high return.” If I could relate this to wearing a mask, my assessment would be “very low risk with potentially very high return.” The risks of wearing a mask could be classified mostly as follows:

► Annoying

► Harder to talk

► Harder to understand someone who is wearing one

The high return is the reduction of the likelihood of unknowingly spreading the virus to a vulnerable person who could become severely ill, be hospitalized or die.

The bottom line: Wear a face covering when in public buildings (or elsewhere as required by the JCHD mandate). It is a smart return on investment.