Dan Levy talks a lot of sense.
In a video posted on Twitter, the Schitt’s Creek creator and star had a message for people who are actively not wearing masks because “they perceive it to be an infringement on their freedom.”
He began by stating he could understand the frustration at being told what to do, and proposed a “recontextualisation” of the act of wearing a mask.
“Imagine seeing it not as an infringement on your freedom, but rather the simplest, easiest act of kindness that you can do in a day,” said Levy. “Not just for yourself, but for other people who might have autoimmune issues, people who, if they were to contract COVID with those issues might have some devastating repercussions.”
As mask-wearing is becoming the norm in countries across the world amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, resistance to the practice is growing too. The mask — designed to protect other people from catching the virus from you — has become a divisive and highly politicised symbol for some who feel the face covering limits their personal freedom. As Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, put it, “Putting a mask on yourself is more to prevent you from infecting someone else.”
Levy’s reframing of mask-wearing as the ultimate act of kindness is a good way of looking at it.
“See it not as anyone or anything infringing on your freedom, but rather, if you have the freedom to leave your house, if you have the good health to leave your house, why not put on a mask?” he concluded.
“Make it your good deed for the day and do something nice for yourself and other people.”