With the Delta Variant of COVID-19 surging through the nation and Western North Carolina, Mountain Findings decided to reinstate its mask policy last week after the Highlands Board of Commissioners reinstated the mask mandate for all town facilities.
“I am an avid news follower, and this COVID-19 variant is way more dangerous than the first one that came through,” Mountain Findings board president Carol Misner said. “I was doing my research online and found a post about the reasons why somebody should where their masks.”
In that post, Misner said she felt like people need to know the three reasons why she decides to wear a mask and ultimately why Mountain Findings will now require masks.
“The first reason was humility; I don’t know if I have COVID, and it’s clear now that people are spreading this disease while not showing symptoms. We just don’t know,” Misner said. “The second reason is kindness; I don’t know if the person I’m near has a child that is battling cancer or if they take care of the elderly. While I might be fine, they may not. Third, is community. I want my community to thrive, businesses to stay open and employees to stay healthy. Keeping a lid on COVID helps us all, but I’m afraid that lid is off.”
With Highlands being an escape for some people, Misner said the people traveling is another reason why they decided to mask up.
“You look at the situation down in Florida and it is even worse,” Misner said. “Those people travel up here all of the time. It can be dangerous for us here in our small community because we don’t have the facilities to take care of all of us.”
Most of the volunteers that keep the shop going at Mountain Findings are above the age of 65, many of them being at risk.
“We have a couple of youngsters, but most of our volunteers are retired,” Misner said. “They are very vulnerable to catching the virus. I did send an email out to all of the volunteers and ask if they were vaccinated. I actually got positive responses from that. We have a good percentage of our people vaccinated. There was only one that was irate and told me to take them off the volunteer list. For those of us that have believed in the science and the CDC, and have gotten vaccinated, it is hard for us to understand why there are people that are refusing. Especially if you have lived through polio, like I have.”
Last Thursday through Saturday while the store was open, the volunteers gave out more than 200 masks to shoppers.
“The response was good,” Misner said. “Maybe two people complained about having to wear a mask, but if somebody walked in that wasn’t wearing one, we would just politely ask if they would wear a mask while they were in the store, and we would hand them one.”
When it comes down to other businesses following suit, Misner said she hopes they will.
“What’s disturbing to me is that there are so many children getting infected because they can’t be vaccinated,” Misner said. “Adults need to take responsibility. The children are so vulnerable.”
As of Aug. 10, there are 163 active cases in Macon County and there have been 41 deaths. This week there have been zero vaccines given according to Macon County Public Health.
By Christopher Smith