In monthly update on covid-19 issues, mayor focuses on mental health and dealing with anti-mask peer pressure

By Aaron Gershon
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

Mayor Grayson Vandegrift discussed the importance of maintaining mental health, and encouraged Midway residents to fight against anti-mask peer pressure, in his monthly video update on the covid-19 pandemic.

“Mental health is going to be something we really need to focus on,” Vandegrift said. “It’s going to take a while to get through this.”

With uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, anxiety and stress have deeply affected millions of people worldwide, including in Midway, he said: “Pandemics obviously are not unprecedented, but for us this is an unprecedented time.”

Noting that suicides rose during the 1918-19 flu pandemic, he called on Midway residents to help one another in any way possible.

“There are difficult things we all deal with, but we don’t want to lose anyone,” he said. “We don’t want to lose anyone to something so self-inflicted when there are resources to help.”

Vandegrift encouraged those needing help or know someone struggling to email him at mayorgrayson@gmail.com.

Anti-mask peer pressure: Despite a surge in coronavirus cases (the state reported seven more in Woodford County Wednesday) and a mandate to wear facial coverings in social settings, some Kentuckians still refuse to wear them. Vandegrift called on Midway to resist the anti-mask peer pressure, which he said he hopes is not intentional.

“I’m talking from experience when I know it’s difficult to walk into a situation … and people you know and respect don’t have their masks on,” he said. “I was in a situation recently where I was in quarters where we all should have had masks on and nobody did and I did not handle that situation as well as I would have liked to.”

Vandegrift said he has since been able to better speak up in similar situations, which is important and “not as difficult as you’d think.” He added, “Nobody wants to be, so to speak, the wet blanket . . . I think we need to work on being that person; I think that’s what leadership really is.”

The mayor continued to praise the city's response to the virus, noting only two confirmed cases have been seen in Midway and both have fully recovered.

“Considering the cases we’ve seen around the country and in parts of Kentucky,” he said, “it’s really a testament to your will that we’ve kept cases so low here.”