Louise Andrews, Lennox Head
Dear Mandy, an excellent article in The Echo (Soapbox, 21 July).
It saddens me too to witness the unnecessary divisions in society over such a small thing. After all, a facemask is only a bit of fabric, and yet it has come to represent a paranoid belief system.
When I encounter people who make a fuss about having to wear one I point out that doctors and nurses have been wearing them, without complaint, to protect themselves and their patients, for well over a century.
But more importantly, as you articulate, there are far more pressing and serious issues to protest about than the wearing of facemasks. If the protesters were seriously concerned about the loss of civil liberties (that they seem to think the wearing of a facemask represents) then there are plenty of disenfranchised people in the world who would welcome their support. Thank you for putting this issue in perspective.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
