Ball State professor says Indiana mask mandate will save lives

MUNCIE, Ind. (WISH) — A Ball State University professor and scientist is praising Gov. Eric Holcomb for the mask mandate.

The professor says the mandate, which starts Monday, will save lives.

Dr. Jagdish Khubchandani said he thinks Holcomb should have done a mask mandate even sooner, but the professor of health science also said he’s glad Indiana has the requirement now and wants everyone to embrace it.

He says, in a time where COVID-19 has no real treatment or vaccine, masks are all people have to fight the spread of the virus. He also called COVID-19 the smartest child in the coronavirus family.

“It infects people and does not show symptoms,” Khubchandani said. “You could be having the virus for 10 days and have no symptoms at all and, in the meanwhile, you could be infecting other people. Given the nature of this coronavirus, the only chance we have to save others and ourselves is to wear a mask because asymptomatic people are infecting others.”

In Wednesday’s news conference where Holcomb announced the mandate, the governor said, “I’ve seen the movie before. I’ve seen it around the country. I know how it ends and we’re trying to change that ending for real people.”

Khubchandani says masking decreases transmission from 25-50%. He believes if people don’t start getting serious about reducing the spread, the virus could continue for as long as two years.

Here is a summary of all research he has gathered on why people may or may not wear a mask:

• Gender: Men are less likely to wear a mask due to shame, guilt, feelings of masculinity, and a lower perceived vulnerability to disease.
• Age: Younger people perceive a lower risk and have higher-risk behaviors than older populations, which is true for most health-risk behaviors including mask wearing.
• Race: Preliminary reports suggest that there could be differences in mask wearing based on race and ethnicity. He believes people are confounded by a political orientation, and many minorities are working in low-paying, essential services and may have to go out to make a living, and, so, may be more likely to wear a mask.
• Living with family members, employment status, education, and income play key roles as well.
• Cost and availability of protective masks, gloves and other materials play a role. Leaders are expecting people to engage in a behavior without accounting for the associated costs. “Not an easy sell.”
• Political orientation: In the general public, those who identify as Republicans are less likely to wear compared to Democrats, based on multiple nationwide polls and reports. Much of it could be due to behaviors and attitudes of political role models and party representatives.
• Individual counties now must take the message of the governor to heart and very seriously. His campaign #MaskUpHoosiers should be delivered to all across the state via multiple modes of media. Rural, poorer populations with less education may not get the message via social media.