With the safety recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Indiana State Department of Health changing so rapidly, Bonita Borst, or Lady B, as she calls herself, wrote into our City Limits: Coronavirus series wondering if she had to wear a mask and rubber gloves when she goes out in public.
Lady B lives in Attica, Ind., and is semi-retired. However, she keeps herself quite busy.
“I am an artist, poet, writer, singer, work with children, sing and minister at a nursing home, and a I am a Sunday school teacher,” she says.
She has a background in advertising and public relations in the newspaper business including at the Miami Herald, and was a model, singer and actress.
Lady B says the rules seem to have been constantly changing since she worked in the healthcare industry and believes that may confuse some people.
“When I have been out and about this past month, I have observed so many people with their heads down, avoiding eye contact even if standing back six feet apart, they do so nervously,” she says. “There is so much fear.”
She says she understands where the fear is coming from.
“I think it is partly due to the conflicting reports from the White House on down,” she says. “I do believe Gov. Holcomb is doing a good job in his leadership.”
Lady B says though her health in general is good, an injury from a fall two years ago led to a recent tele-health appointment with a pain management doctor.
“She indicated to me that due to the severity of COVID-19 that I should wear a mask and gloves,” she says.
The ISDH states that studies have shown a significant percentage of individuals with coronavirus lack symptoms and that even those who eventually develop symptoms can transmit the virus to others before showing symptoms.
This means that the virus can spread between people interacting in close proximity, for example, speaking, coughing or sneezing, even if those people are not exhibiting symptoms.
In light of this evidence, the CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain, such as grocery stores and pharmacies, especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.
CDC guidelines emphasize that it is critical to maintain six feet of social distancing to slow the spread of the virus.
The CDC does not recommend wearing gloves to fight coronavirus, but some doctors are recommending them anyway.
If you do decide to wear rubber gloves as a preventative measure, the agency outlines a seven-step guide to properly removing gloves to avoid unintentional germ transmission.
- Grasp the outside of one glove at the wrist. Do not touch your bare skin.
- Peel the glove away from your body, pulling it inside out.
- Hold the glove you just removed in your gloved hand.
- Peel off the second glove by putting your fingers inside the glove at the bottom of your wrist.
- Turn the second glove inside out while pulling it away from your body, leaving the first glove inside the second.
- Dispose of the gloves safely. Do not reuse the gloves.
- Clean your hand immediately after removing gloves.
As the recommendations continue to be updated a good rule of thumb is to check the CDC and Indiana Department of Health websites for updates.
While it is not mandated to wear face masks in public and not recommended to wear gloves, Lady B says when she does choose to wear her mask, at least it’s stylish.
“I do have a fashionista animal print mask sewn just for me by a sweet friend,” she says.
For the latest news and resources about COVID-19, bookmark our Coronavirus In Indiana page here.
