government orders requiring masks are exactly the same sort of remedies that you sneer at when you refer to snake oil remedies.
We actually have not done rigorous scientific testing of the method, nor done any serious epidemiological study on the use of masks to prove their effectiveness.
full-face respirators have been tested for their effectiveness in regard to virus particles. In research laboratories there are "clean bench" systems with controlled air flow with the same level of testing, and researchers frequently use "glove boxes" where they work through a sealed plexiglass chamber using arm-length gloves when working with materials that require such safety. I've worked with such equipment for years. Without question, the "conspiracy theory" that Covid-19 was deliberately released from a laboratory would require involvement of personnel using such precautions to intentional provide the virus to "spreaders" who then opened vials and dumped the virus solutions in a crowd....... nobody would be willing to do that without protective gear for themselves, and would be noticed in any crowd.
However, a careless worker, or one who made one protocol mistake, is not that unbelievable. I assert that everything we keep in our freezers or liquid nitrogen tanks will find its way out one day.
Willingness to voluntarily use a simple cloth or N=95 face mask would correlate very highly with knowing anything about Covid-19 and being aware of public transmission vectors, but out in an open space, or inside your own vehicle, or walking your dog around your block with simple distancing from others, you have to be an officious Statist totalitarian to order mask usage in such circumstances.
Public schools could rationally install some HVAC uv lights and electrostatic filters and achieve greater protection than a mask requirement generally, though I would still want a mask when closer than about nine feet. Air currents alter the "safe" social distance facts. Banks and offices can install such HVAC equipment just as well, and transaction counters can be fitted with a small chamber with UV lights for disinfecting cash, credit cards and paperwork, or goods, involved in the transaction. People have much better options than just piously or compliantly wearing a mask without doing any further thinking.
Statist reliance on mask orders smacks of social engineering psy-op totalitarianism. We should not give our government authority to issue such orders. Signs or pamphlets detailing known risks and benefits, sure. Orders that effectively shut down business or commerce, no.
Especially now that we know most (excess of 95%) Covid cases are inconsequential, and we know how to effectively treat 99% of the higher risk patients, and we know who is likely to seriously affected if they get it;. Seriously, Covid=19 today can be treated more effectively than the flu.
Statist, totalitarian governors who order Covid carriers to be placed in elder-care homes or centers ought to be charged with manslaughter and subjected to grand jury investigations. Governors or mayors who order reductions in mass transit during an outbreak as serious as this, with the obvious effect of crowding passengers should be similarly charged and investigated and tried. We need some way citizens can just impeach and remove such imbeciles form public office.
Last edited:
