He claims it will save 40,000 lives:
A few points:
- There is no science behind the mask mandates. If there was, they would permit only the KN-95 surgical mask. But instead, basically any face covering is acceptable. Old bandanna? Perfectly fine. Neck gaiters, which are designed to keep you warm, not keep you safe from viruses and diseases, are also perfectly acceptable. Anything goes with the facemasks. It’s all for show. It’s meant to put people’s minds at ease about going out in public.
- Most states don’t need a mask mandate. Think of places like Wyoming, North Dakota, Idaho, etc. In fact pretty much anywhere outside of major cities does not need a mask mandate at all. They are largely unaffected by the virus. Why make them wear masks as if they lived in a place like NYC or Los Angeles?
- Many states already have mask mandates in place. Many have had mask mandates in place for a while and saw their cases spike afterwards. For example, California issued a statewide mask mandate on June 18:
- Yet cases in California spiked afterward:
- This would be yet another federal power-grab. At the end of the day, it’s all about forcing people to do what the government tells them. They’re trying to see just how much they can make us do. It’s a display of power. It’s them reminding us who’s boss.
On March 18 of this year, the Health Minister of Quebec spoke at length about why masks don’t work. He said:
“Don’t think that masks are the miracle solution,” he said. “They are useful for those who are sick to not contaminate others. It’s all about hygiene of the hands.”
Arruda warned that masks give users a false sense of security, when in fact they might increase the odds of contracting the virus. Users tend to reposition them frequently, he said, bringing their hands in contact with their face.
Masks have been selling out at pharmacies in Montreal since the end of January. Arruda urged Quebecers who are not sick to leave the masks for health-care workers, who use them according to a strict protocol in order not to infect themselves, and need thousands of them because they are discarded after each use. The focus should be on hand hygiene, he said.
“I don’t wear a mask. I wash my hands. I wash my hands,” he said. “We wash our hands, because that is what can save lives.”
You’re far more likely to touch a contaminated surface and then bring that contamination to your face than you are to inhale the virus. This is common sense, or at least it used to be five months ago.
Plus, the CDC itself published a study in May of this year that could not conclude that masks worked:
“Although mechanistic studies support the potential effect of hand hygiene or face masks, evidence from 14 randomized controlled trials of these measures did not support a substantial effect on transmission of laboratory-confirmed influenza.”
Bloomberg published a piece at the end of July about Denmark being a COVID success story even though they don’t require masks:
“When Europe’s leaders were photographed last week discussing their Covid-19 rescue plan, it was the first time Danes saw their prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, wearing a face mask.
Denmark stands out for its fast and effective response to the virus, leaving it with a death rate that’s roughly a fifth that in neighboring Sweden. But Danes aren’t required to wear face masks, and local authorities generally don’t recommend them.
Henning Bundgaard, chief physician at Denmark’s Rigshospitalet and a professor in cardiology, is finalizing a study that explores how effective face masks are outside hospitals in halting the spread of the virus. He says research conducted before the pandemic hit isn’t conclusive. “All these countries recommending face masks haven’t made their decisions based on new studies,” Bundgaard said in an interview in Copenhagen.
He says there’s evidence to suggest that the only effective face covering might be a visor, because the virus can spread through all mucous membranes, including via the eyes. He worries a cloth covering that only protects the nose and mouth provides a “false sense of security.”
On top of this, the CDC as recently as February 27 of this year said it did not recommend the use of facemasks:
It’s not about keeping you safe. They flip-flopped on the masks around April. They went from telling us not to wear masks to making them mandatory.
It’s not about safety, it’s not about science; it’s about power.