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PITTSBURGH (Newsradio 1020 KDKA) - Dauphin County Coroner Graham Hetrick has made a controversial claim that he does not believe that face coverings are very effective in stopping the spread of the coronavirus.
“Can you tell me what a mask is? Is it an N95 mask? Is it a scarf that’s been sitting on the dashboard of your car and then gets put on, and then taken off, and is washed once a week? Any one of these things will not stop the virus,” Hetrick said during the KDKA Radio Morning Show on Wednesday.
Immunologist and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci along with PA Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine, Allegheny County Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen , the CDC and WHO have all recommended wearing a facemask in public to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Hetrick says UPMC has told him that 77 studies show that masks are effective but pointed to a study by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons that claims, wearing a mask, “really isn’t effective at all.”
The AAPS has been criticized for being an extreme right non-profit group accused of promoting pseudoscience at times.
Hetrick says that wearing a mask should be a personal choice.
He recognizes that the virus is dangerous, but it does not impact every community the exact same way.
“I’m not saying this isn’t a serious problem, and social distancing is important - but one size doesn’t fit all. This is like a doctor going into a waiting room and saying okay, you’re all going to get the same pill. Go home,” Hetrick explains.
Hetrick is not a medical doctor and holds an elected position in Dauphin County. He has Bachelor of Arts Degree from York College of PA, along with a Mortuary Science Degree from Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science and a Master of Science Degree in research psychology from Capella University.
Hetrick asked why the businesses didn’t shut down during the serious 2017 flu season and suggested that “if you take out the four states that sent people to nursing homes and gave them the mean average of all the other states, we would be at about number wise, be at about that level.”
According to data from the CDC, the 2017-18 flu season infected an estimated 45 million people with 800,000 hospitalized and 61,000 flu related deaths.
John Hopkins University research shows nearly 141,000 people have died of COVID-19 as of Tuesday, July 22.
Data from the PA Department of Health shows 102 Pennsylvanians died from influenza during the 2019-2020 season.
In the five months since COVID-19 hit PA, a total of 7,063 have died as a result of the virus.
He also thinks the grieving process after a death is being destroyed from all of the COVID-19 protocols.
“I’ve talked to families where the wife couldn’t even say goodbye to her husband, or the kids to their father - because of this concept that we have to follow certain dictates that which are yet to be proven,” Hetrick adds.
You can listen to the full conversation with Hetrick below.
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