My mask protects you;

Your mask protects me.

This daily dose of health advice comes from Pennsylvania Health Secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine at her COVID-19 briefings and echoes conventional wisdom of other health professionals.

Many stores basically warn shoppers: “No shoes, no shirt, no mask, no service.”

The two most prevalent mitigation precautions we are urged to practice during this worldwide pandemic are: social distancing of 6 feet apart and wearing a mask when out in public and around others. But now to wear or not to wear a mask is no longer just a question of public health; for some it has become political and, worse, an issue of machismo and political correctness.

If this were not a potential matter of life or death, I might be willing to laugh this off as stupid and inconsequential.

I don’t know about you, but I have been following the advice of health professionals, which has been transmitted to us by way of our government officials. As mandated, I have hunkered down for the better part of three months, so far limiting my departures from home to my daily walks, a weekly trip to the grocery store and two weekly trips for takeout food to support my favorite restaurant.

Aside from the walks, which I do alone, I wear a mask when I enter these other places of businesses. Even if I were inclined to do otherwise, I would not be permitted to enter the premises without one unless I had a medical exemption.

I feel much safer that masks are mandatory, especially since all store employees are now wearing them, too.

I have heard and seen confrontations between so-called patriotic zealots who want to flout the regulations and do their own thing, as they wrap themselves in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, proclaiming that this is a free country and “you can’t make me wear a mask.”

Some of these confrontations have turned ugly, violent, even deadly.

A Family Dollar security guard in Flint, Michigan, was shot after he turned away a customer for not wearing a mask.

In Philadelphia, police dragged a man from a SEPTA bus when he refused to wear a mask.

There were two major protests at the Capitol in Harrisburg against Gov. Tom Wolf’s stay-at-home orders during the pandemic crisis, and in each there were scores of participants who refused to wear masks or observe social-distancing.

I want to stress that these are extreme examples and in no way should be a commentary on those who choose to wear masks or, for that matter, those who don’t but don’t become confrontational or dangerous about it. A national poll shows that more than 60% of Americans have worn a face covering in public.

I understand that this is a lifestyle adjustment. Not only that, but we have received mixed messages from President Donald Trump on down.

First off, the government’s preeminent health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, issued this guideline: “… all people should wear cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.”

Despite this, President Trump has refused to wear a mask in public, including when he held a news conference following a tour of a Lehigh County personal protective equipment manufacturer last month.

During different Memorial Day observances in Virginia and Delaware, the news media showed photos of a maskless Trump and a masked Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic candidate who will oppose him in November.

There are several governors who have invoked stiff health measures to try to reduce the incidence of infection, while other governors have dismissed these measures as unnecessary.

So it has turned into a partisan battle over whether a person feels compelled to follow the directives of the best health information available or whether he or she sees this as a political hoax whose objective is to bring down a sitting president and infringe on personal freedoms.

As a journalist and political scientist, I can point to other instances where the public has gotten mixed messages from health and public officials, and it always results in confusion and, in some cases, a free-for-all and breeding ground for conspiracy theories. Given this situation where there is no consensus, we are left to sort it out for ourselves.

When I wear a mask, am I sending a political message? Absolutely not. I am zeroed in on the health of those around me, and I am looking for similar concern for my well-being from those whom I encounter.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com