With the pandemic has come constant reminders to social distance and wear masks. But herd-mentality and adhering to guidelines even when they meet no actual purpose is futile, to say the least.
Instead of enforcing safety precautions only when needed, the Department of Natural Resources in Wisconsin is overdoing it by telling employees they need to wear a face mask, even when they are attending virtual meetings from their homes on Zoom.
There has been much talk about wearing masks when in public or when in a store – but when confined to a room alone during a meeting? There doesn’t seem to be any plausible explanation why a mask would be deemed necessary.
In an effort to over emphasize Governor Tony Eyers’ order to wear masks, the secretary of Natural Resources, Preston Cole, in an email to his employees, wrote saying: “Also, wear your mask, even if you are home, to participate in a virtual meeting that involves being seen — such as on Zoom or another video-conferencing platform — by non-DNR staff.”
It is worth noting that the DNR is pushing to rampantly promote wearing masks at a juncture where Republicans are growing keen on overturning the mandate about the same.
Cole then went on to justify the demand by saying that it was to be followed for setting an example. “Set the safety example which shows you as a DNR public service employee care about the safety and health of others.”
Much like DNR’s employees and us, even the GOP Rep. Joe Sanfelippo of New Berlin was puzzled by the strange order of having people wear masks on Zoom. “I’m more inclined to support things that actually do help, as opposed to just putting on an appearance of helping,” said Sanfelippo.
A spokesperson of DNR backed the debatable decision by stating that doing so would be a “very visual reminder to all that wearing a mask in a public setting helps prevent the spread of COVID-19”.
