GREEN BAY, Wis. (NBC 26) -- According to one Bellin Health emergency doctor, the local medical community is in agreement in their stance on the vote to repeal Wisconsin's mask mandate: don't.
"I think the medical community is united," Dr. Brad Burmeister said, "We know that masking is something that is an important public health tool that protects the general population of Wisconsin, and we would just encourage the legislature to consider taking that up to help protect the people of Wisconsin and for those extra people who otherwise won't wear a mask if there isn't a law or a mandate to wear a mask."
Dr. Burmeister says that legislative action is necessary to handle masking as a community issue rather than a personal decision, but understands that the effort to repeal is targeted at challenging authority instead of science.
"Really the question that's before them is a legal question, it's not really a medical question," Dr. Burmeister said. "It's sort of collateral damage is how I see it, that the mask mandate would end up going away if they do approve this resolution that's before them."
"We know that masking helps decrease the spread of droplets, and that helps prevent other people from getting COVID-19, which helps protect everyone in our community," Dr. Burmeister said.
Additionally, Dr. Burmeister believes that mask mandates take the political and personal burden off of small businesses from making that decision and risking customers due to medical beliefs.
"We know that having a state law or requirement like this makes a lot of businesses more comfortable, having a mask mandate inside of the business themselves," Dr. Burmeister said.
Ultimately, the pressure to avoid losing Congressional aid for low-income food assistance provided by the coronavirus relief package was what cancelled today's Assembly vote. If the state was to repeal the mask mandate, Wisconsin could lose out on up to $49.3 in allotted EBT funding.
