I’m not high-risk. Are essential workers, who are at higher risk of exposure due to their jobs, increasing my risk even when they’re wearing a mask?

Jack Lipton, Ph.D.:

Let’s be very clear: You are posing the risk to them. That they are there to help you is crucial to recognize.

When you show up without a mask and rely on elements of your privilege to protect you, you are exposing essential workers to the virus. You, and the next person, and the next person. That essential worker goes home to a household that is statistically more crowded and at higher medical risk. That essential worker does not have the same access to a physician or test that you do. That essential worker may not have the same access to health insurance that you do. The list goes on and on. So when you want to talk about sectors of our society that show higher rates of Covid-19, you’d better be prepared to talk about your role in risking their lives, not the other way around.