Like dandelions in spring, outraged headlines are popping up across the internet. Several towns in Massachusetts are telling people to stay indoors after 5 p.m. There has been a case of Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), a mosquito-borne virus that can be deadly. Public health officials have advised a dusk-to-dawn curfew. We suggest you do more indoor stuff after a certain time and limit outdoor stuff.
Comparisons to the COVID antics abound, and while we have good reason to be suspicious of even the most casual scratch of the totalitarian itch, I have to say, for lack of a better term, give me a break. What they are doing is literally what they should have done during COVID-19. This person got IT (whatever IT is). We perceive a risk to public health. Here is the situation and our calculated risk factors. Here’s what we know about the disease. This is our advice; feel free to ignore it.
Am I wrong? Is that not the thing we wanted?
“We want to educate our residents about EEE and the seriousness of the illness and make them aware of the risk,” the statement continued. …
Oxford is working with the other three critical-risk communities, with all four issuing these same recommendations, the spokesperson confirmed.
Oxford is asking anyone who wants to use town fields to prove that they are insured and sign an indemnification form. I presume this is meant to protect taxpayers from financial exposure in the event of injury or death. I’m not familiar with Oxford, Mass. Maybe they are being weenies. Perhaps it is an unnecessary barrier to keep people off the fields after 5 pm. However, those most likely to need or use them are school teams, which are already insured. I’ve read a few articles in which parents, coaches, and players want to keep playing, and schools are reportedly trying to accommodate them. In other words, yes, there is some risk, but they seem willing to take it. That’s what should happen.
And yes, the asking nicely sets the stage for something more restrictive, but absent that, it looks to me like public health officials limiting themselves to their proper role. Here’s the perceived threat. Here’s our opinion about it. You assume the risks and do what you want. Any reporting that suggests something else (at this point, is “boy cries wolf”). You are welcome to disagree.