patrick.net

Oregon considering permanent mask mandate.

https://www.newsweek.com/oregon-officials-propose-making-indoor-mask-mandate-permanent-1670702?source=patrick.net

zzyzzx says

Oregon considering permanent mask mandate.

You mean Portland. The rest of the state will ingore it.

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/science/articles/cult-masked-schoolchildren?source=patrick.net

The Cult of Masked Schoolchildren
History will not look kindly on our evidence-free decision to make kids suffer most

https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/your-tax-dollars-at-work/comments?source=patrick.net

Patrick says

https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/your-tax-dollars-at-work/comments?source=patrick.net

Torture plain and simple.

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20220117/Transmission-of-Omicron-in-a-quarantine-hotel-between-two-vaccinated-individuals-across-a-corridor.aspx?source=patrick.net

Transmission of Omicron in a quarantine hotel between two vaccinated individuals across a corridor

Now how exactly is a mask supposed to stop that?

Vaxx also failed.

https://notthebee.com/article/as-they-prepare-to-strap-your-kids-into-n95-masks-enjoy-this-flashback-to-march-of-2020-when-nurses-were-posting-selfies-showing-the-brutal-effects-of-wearing-an-n95-all-day?source=patrick.net

https://markchangizi.substack.com/p/face-masks-destroy-evolutions-most?source=patrick.net

Face masks destroy evolution’s most important gift to society
Emotional expressions are our MAIN communication system

https://notthebee.com/article/this-letter-from-an-eight-year-old-child-to-new-virginia-governor-glenn-youngkin-is-heartbreaking-and-heartwarming-at-the-same-time?source=patrick.net

Here's the text of the letter with all the typos you'd expect from a second grader:

Dear Govener Youngkin my name is [redacted] im eight years old. I go to [redacted] Elementry School im in 2nd grade. I Agree with you that kids shouldn't wear masks in school. Here are some reasons why I dont like masks, First I cant breath, Second I miss seeing my friends face, Last I cant hear Mrs [redacted] when she talks so I don't understand what she is teaching me. So please do something because Farifax publick schools wont let us take off our masks. My BFF [redacted] is so excited to rip her MASK OFF on the 25th. There are kids that feel like me.

She's so excited that her friend will get to go maskless and she's hoping that the governor will protect her from the mandates at her county schools.

This is all at once sweet, sad, heartwarming, and heartbreaking.

These mask policies are completely inhumane and anti-children. We need more governors in the US like Youngkin and DeSantis who will prevent our kids from being forced to wear masks all day, every day.

https://covidreason.substack.com/p/the-impact-of-wearing-masks?source=patrick.net

January 21st 2022

693 Retweets 2,039 Likes

New York Times: “Masks have encouraged anonymity and discouraged dialogue. “ 'People don’t know how to communicate anymore,' said Jazlyn Korpics, 18, a senior at Liberty. 'Everybody’s a robot now — their minds are warped.'

WSJ: "Facial expressions are integral to human connection, particularly for young children ... Covering a child’s face mutes these nonverbal forms of communication and can result in robotic and emotionless interactions"

Prof. Emily Oster: "The concerns here stem from the observation that the bottom half of the face is important for reading emotions, learning to speak, and learning to read. The theory behind this is compelling." "Masks are not a friendship bracelet"

Video: "Thank you for not reaching out to the students for asking how feel about masks, because if you did, the majority of students would say they hate masks ... than you for allowing me to experience the anxiety of never seeing facial expressions."

Video: "I felt like my entire life was falling apart, because of what this government did to young people"

Pro-mask advocate. "Don't tell me 2 years of masking doesn't impact kids."

New York Times: "Masks can impede communication"

Boston Globe: "[Mask-free] students reported 'happier hallways,' 'contagious smiling,' and better class discussions. With fewer masks, English language learners and students learning foreign languages reported better communication."

TabletMag: "Fifty-nine percent of U.K. teachers in April 2021 stated that asking pupils to wear masks made understanding them a “lot more difficult.” We know that when someone conceals their lips it’s harder to comprehend what they’re saying."

SF Chronicle: "Every student is struggling with pronunciation/recognizing letter sounds. 'I am often the only adult they interact w that can articulate the sounds, but they can’t see my mouth.' It's especially hard on autistic students."

German study: “Top German scientists have found that wearing certain types of face masks for long periods of time could result in potentially hazardous chemicals and harmful microplastics being inhaled deep into human lungs.”

Rational Ground: “The resulting report found that five masks were contaminated with bacteria, parasites, and fungi, including three with dangerous pathogenic and pneumonia-causing bacteria.”

https://www.ecotextile.com/2021040127603/dyes-chemicals-news/exclusive-chemical-cocktail-found-in-face-masks.html?source=patrick.net

Top German scientists have found that wearing certain types of face masks for long periods of time could result in potentially hazardous chemicals and harmful microplastics being inhaled deep into human lungs.

Professor Michael Braungart, director at the Hamburg Environmental Institute and co-founder of the world-renowned Cradle to Cradle environmental standard has told Ecotextile News that mask wearers unwittingly run the risk of breathing in carcinogens, allergens and tiny synthetic microfibres by wearing both textile and nonwoven surgical masks for long periods of time.

His recent findings have been backed up by another leading industry textile chemist Dr. Dieter Sedlak, managing director and co-founder of Modern Testing Services Augsburg, Germany in partnership with Modern Testing Services Global, Hong Kong who found elevated concentrations of hazardous fluorocarbons, formaldehyde and other potentially carcinogenic substances on surgical face masks: “I can only say 100 per cent that I have similar concerns to Prof. Braungart.”

Crimes against humanity. This entire thing is a test. A test to see if the citizens of the world have any balls to stand up for themselves. I'd say, no matter how the mandates come to an end, the bully has already won. People are pleading with their bullies instead of standing up and saying Fuck You. PARENTS are pleading with schools to stop torturing their own children.

https://www.whec.com/coronavirus/judge-rules-hochul-mask-mandate-unconstitutional/6368454/?source=patrick.net

Judge rules Hochul's mask mandate unconstitutional

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — A State Supreme Court Judge out of Nassau County has ruled that Gov. Kathy Hochul's mask mandate is unconstitutional.

Hochul enacted the mask mandate in mid-December amid an increase in COVID-19 cases attributed to the omicron variant.

Judge Thomas Rademaker wrote in his decision that the governor does not have the authority to impose the mandate and that the state legislature would have to debate and approve laws requiring masks in schools and other places.

Patrick says

https://www.whec.com/coronavirus/judge-rules-hochul-mask-mandate-unconstitutional/6368454/?source=patrick.net

Judge rules Hochul's mask mandate unconstitutional

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — A State Supreme Court Judge out of Nassau County has ruled that Gov. Kathy Hochul's mask mandate is unconstitutional.

Hochul enacted the mask mandate in mid-December amid an increase in COVID-19 cases attributed to the omicron variant.

Judge Thomas Rademaker wrote in his decision that the governor does not have the authority to impose the mandate and that the state legislature would have to debate and approve laws requiring masks in schools and other places.

What about the vax mandate? This is NY, correct? Or is NY City able to enforce it's own vax mandate?

https://thefederalist.com/2022/01/17/cdc-finally-admits-cloth-masks-were-always-political-theater/?source=patrick.net

https://reason.com/2022/01/25/la-schools-non-cloth-masks-vaccine-mandate/?source=patrick.net

L.A. Schools Will Require Non-Cloth Masks (Even for Sports) and Vaccination Next Year

Booger says

L.A. Schools Will Require Non-Cloth Masks (Even for Sports) and Vaccination Next Year

Asshoes!

https://www.fox5ny.com/news/new-york-judge-overturns-states-mask-mandate.amp?source=patrick.net

New York judge overturns state's mask mandate

https://covidreason.substack.com/p/mom-its-time-to-give-the-kids-back?source=patrick.net

Enough is enough. I refuse to have our children pay the price any longer.

And please don’t insult me by saying “no one likes masks but if it keeps our kids in school” - did you bother to ask why it keeps our kids in school? It’s not because they work. We have 2 years of data from schools across the country and within our state that have been mask optional or mask mandated and there has been statically zero difference.

https://patriotpost.us/opinion/85765-why-the-masked-and-the-unmasked-have-disdain-for-each-other-2022-01-25?source=patrick.net

Why the Masked and the Unmasked Have Disdain for Each Other
The utter irrationality of mask advocacy is the single greatest reason the anti-mask people hold mask advocates in contempt.

Among the many unbridgeable divides between Americans is a completely antithetical view of mask wearing. On one side are those who wear masks almost everywhere outside their homes and who demand that others do so, including young children in class and on outdoor playgrounds, and 2-year-olds on airplanes.

On the other side are those who only wear a mask where they are punished for not doing so (most obviously, airplanes). They regard masks as essentially pacifiers for adults.

Generally speaking, these two groups have disdain for each other.

Why the pro-mask half of America holds the anti-mask half in contempt needs little explanation. They believe anti-mask Americans are putting others in grave danger. Pro-maskers believe that even children who do not wear masks put their own lives and the lives of other children and teachers at risk.

Consequently, pro-mask Americans regard those who do not wear masks, let alone those who actively oppose mask-wearing, as selfish, anti-science potential killers.

What may be less obvious is why anti-maskers hold pro-maskers in equal contempt. So, this needs explaining in greater detail. After all, anti-maskers don’t believe that maskers are putting people in hospitals.

First, anti-maskers regard the charges made against them by pro-maskers as baseless. Therefore, as odd as it sounds, anti-maskers have contempt for the pro-maskers’ contempt. To wrongly charge people with causing mass death is, to understate the case, immoral. And if this charge is demonstrably wrong, the people who level it are the ones who are anti-science.

Since each side regards the other as anti-science, what is the science?

Nearly all public health authorities claim that masks are absolutely necessary to save lives. But they have virtually no science to back up the claim.

There is, however, abundant scientific evidence that masks are worthless vis-a-vis viruses and do great harm to society.

Here is a fraction of the examples I could give:

In February 2020, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams tweeted: “Seriously people — STOP BUYING MASKS! They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus.”

In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) Health Emergencies Program executive director, Mike Ryan, wrote: “There is no specific evidence to suggest that the wearing of masks by the mass population has any particular benefit.”

A 2010 study in France led by Laetitia Canini (Ph.D. in epidemiology and biostatistics) concluded: “We did not identify any trend in the results suggesting effectiveness of facemasks.”

A 2009 study of Japanese health workers led by epidemiologist Dr. Joshua L. Jacobs, of the University of Hawaii Medical School, concluded: “Face mask use in health care workers has not been demonstrated to provide benefit in terms of cold symptoms or getting colds.”

As far as I could determine, the only randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the effectiveness of masks against COVID-19 was a 2020 study led by Henning Bundgaard of the Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark. Published in the March 2021 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, it found that 1.8% of those in the masked group and 2.1% of those in the control group became infected with COVID-19 within a month. The 0.3-point difference is statistically insignificant.

MD and epidemiologist Vinay Prasad of the University of California at San Francisco buried the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s child masking recommendation in one sentence: “The CDC cannot ‘follow the science’ because there is no relevant science.”

And what about surgical masks? They are not designed to prevent the spread of viruses, but to prevent medical personnel from accidentally infecting the open wounds of patients on the operating table, and to prevent body fluids from patients spraying up into the mouths and noses of the surgical team. Dr. Colin Axon, a COVID-19 advisor to the British government, made this point clear: Medics were “unable to comprehend” the miniscule elements involved: “A Covid viral particle is around 100 nanometers, material gaps in blue surgical masks are up to 1,000 times that size, cloth mask gaps can be 5,000 times the size.”

While most studies conclude that masks are essentially useless against COVID-19, not all do. Probably the most widely cited study on behalf of mask efficacy was published in the British Medical Journal in October 2021. But it’s hardly a ringing endorsement. As the authors note, “The quality of current evidence would be graded as low or very low, as it consists of observational studies with poor methods.”

If the only problem with the pro-mask position were that it negates science, it would only be harmless nonsense.

But while it is nonsense, it is not harmless.

Take children, for example. Only time will tell how affected children have been by not seeing other children’s faces and seeing few adult faces for two years. In July 2021, an article published under the auspices of the USC Center for Health Policy and Economics addressed this issue:

“Masking is a psychological stressor for children and disrupts learning. Covering the lower half of the face of both teacher and pupil reduces the ability to communicate. In particular, children lose the experience of mimicking expressions, an essential tool of nonverbal communication. Positive emotions such as laughing and smiling become less recognizable, and negative emotions get amplified. Bonding between teachers and students takes a hit. Overall, it is likely that masking exacerbates the chances that a child will experience anxiety and depression, which are already at pandemic levels themselves.”

Yet, just this past week, the enemies of children known as teachers unions — in this case, the one that controls the Los Angeles Unified School District — issued a directive that all children must wear N95-type masks all day, including during outdoor recess, with a wire over their noses to keep the masks at maximum tightness.

The social damage of masks is not confined to children. All human interaction has suffered as a result of two years of masking. For example, people are less kind when they are anonymous.

All of that harm is more than sufficient to justify contempt for mask advocacy.

Now let’s add to that the irrationality of the pro-mask position.

Health authorities demand that people wear masks when entering restaurants, when seated on an airplane, and when walking through airports. However, an exception is made for eating and drinking. So, then, one regularly sees people on airplanes seated less than 12 inches from one another eating without masks on; people seated at airport cafes and restaurants with no masks on; and people spending about an hour eating in restaurants with no masks on.

And while on the subject of airplanes: Do pro-mask advocates think that pilots keep their masks on while flying? Do they even want them to? Does any rational person want their pilots to breathe their own carbon dioxide for six hours while flying across the country?

The utter irrationality of mask advocacy is the single greatest reason the anti-mask people hold mask advocates in contempt. How else should one regard adults who believe that two-year-olds on airplanes and five-year-olds in schools should be masked?

Watching half of our fellow Americans accept and engage in such irrational behavior (not to mention sometimes hysterically enforce it, as myriad social media videos attest) not only depresses the rest of us; it frightens us. That more than half of our country willingly obeys completely irrational orders raises the question: What irrational orders from the state would they not obey?

COVID Protester at Israeli Mall against the "Green Pass" Soviet-Style Vaccine Passport.

"Take your masks off!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgPJqi8gJQA&source=patrick.net

https://nypost.com/2022/01/27/the-left-should-prepare-to-lose-the-school-mask-wars-lowry/?source=patrick.net

The left should prepare to lose the school-mask wars





The people in contemporary America who most pride themselves on their alleged commitment to science and public health are also the most superstitious and immune to evidence. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the debate over masking kids at school — an ongoing, flagrant example of collective irrationality.

The supporters of mask mandates are fired by a righteous certainty that if a child comes to school unmasked, his or her school and community are at risk of a devastating outbreak of COVID; that parents who don’t want to mask their kids are selfish and uncaring boobs who need to turn off Fox News; that public officials who block mask mandates, or carve out exemptions for objecting parents, have blood on their hands.

The mask proponents either have no idea that the United States is an international outlier in its school mask mandates (neither the European health authority nor the World Health Organization go as far as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and that there’s next to no evidence for public-health benefits. Or they simply don’t care because they are too attached to the theater of masked-up kids, in some jurisdictions even while they are outside for recess. ...

A Brown University study of schools in New York, Massachusetts and Florida didn’t find any correlation between student cases and mask mandates. The same is true of a study in Science. Analysis of the data from schools around the country points the same way. ...

But many on the left have a deep attachment to masks that isn’t based on evidence or on a calibration of costs and benefits but an a priori commitment to them as a totem of public safety and private virtue. That this feeling is subrational makes it all the stronger. The science is beside the point, although eventually — after pro-mandate Democrats sustain more political damage — it will prevail.

https://www.ntd.com/unmasked-students-face-immediate-suspension-from-loudoun-county-public-schools_734062.html?source=patrick.net

https://notthebee.com/article/the-time-to-unmask-children-isnt-now-it-was-two-years-ago?source=patrick.net

We have stolen literal years of their young lives and instilled them with fear, low-grade psychosis, and crippling risk aversion – all for a virus which, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, poses a mortality risk for children approaching 0.00%.

No policy among these disgraceful failures has been more viscerally offensive than the society-wide masking of children. It is hard to imagine a rule more divorced from both practical justification and meaningful outcome.

While the Unity Project has been laser focused on stopping the vaccine mandate for K-12 students bringing forth scientific experts and resources, we must widen our fight to include these tyrannical and illogical mask mandates.

There are groups across California and other states that have done amazing work fighting these mask mandates and we are with you when we say Enough is Enough!

Our children are wearing masks for 6-8 hours a day while Governor Newsom, other public officials and celebrities parade around maskless in a California venue that requires them. A venue with 70,000 people, in a state that is still “under emergency”. This is not only hypocrisy in the highest degree, it’s a blatant slap in the face and, in our opinion, the green light to stop sending your kids to school in masks if you haven’t already.

Despite Newsom’s poor attempt at an explanation for not wearing a mask, it’s time to email and call your schools, principals, teachers and school board members letting them know you will no longer comply.


Send your kids to school without a mask, tell them they are heroes for standing up
Talk to other parents and get a group together, show power in numbers
Reach out to school leaders, let them know your child won’t be wearing a mask
You can use the verbiage and links below that point to empirical evidence of the efficacy and harm that come from masks
Share your success stories, you will be an inspiration to others!


Please see the links below illustrating, with empirical evidence, that masks are not only ineffective (as stated by Fauci in the attached video), they are dangerous. It is time we take action. Stop sending your kids to school with masks on. Do not comply. The only way we end this mask mandate is by uniting and fighting these mandates together. Find your group of parents at your schools, look on our strategic partner page for groups near you and join with them. Protest the mask mandates together. Email and call your principals and school board members.

There is NO LAW that requires the masking of our children. There is not even a mask mandate. There is only a "guidance" from the CDPH which is linked herein.

Those of us that want/need them gone are in the vast majority. They only serve to prevent the infected person from transmitting their illness (with an N95 only) but such people/children should be kept home anyway. Our kids are suffering needlessly.

https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/COVID-19/K-12-Guidance-2021-22-School-Year.aspx?source=patrick.net

https://youtu.be/Ji5nYvLziYo?source=patrick.net

From Dr. Paul Alexander, Chief Scientific Officer for The Unity Project

https://palexander.substack.com/p/masks-for-children-the-evidence-indicates?source=patrick.net

https://palexander.substack.com/p/over-150-studies-and-pieces-of-evidence?source=patrick.net

https://palexander.substack.com/p/421-studies-and-pieces-of-high-quality?source=patrick.net

Thank you,
The Unity Project Team

https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/bidens-ridiculous-free-n95-mask-offer?source=patrick.net

https://rumble.com/ve9bjj-only-if-we-misunderstand-the-battlefield-are-face-masks-no-big-deal.html?source=patrick.net


original link

https://rwmalonemd.substack.com/p/the-mass-formation-madness-must-stop?source=patrick.net

The mass formation madness must stop.
Masks, closures, mandates and kids. Our children require better.

Robert W Malone MD, MS

My wife, Jill used to work at the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park for the research unit called CRES (The Center for Research on Endangered Species) in the late 1980s. She did primary behavior research on mother-infant dyads, both as an intern and later as an employee. In particular, she was involved in behavioral studies involving Lion-tailed macaques, which are an endangered species of monkey from India. The purpose of the research was to find ways to increase the emotional well being of the animals, as some of these monkeys have significant issues breeding in captivity.

There was one mother named Polly and her infant daughter Dewa which were particularly interesting. Polly would let her infant girl nurse for a while and when she was tired of it, she would pull her off her nipple and literally hold Dewa’s head to the concrete floor for about 30 seconds. Dewa would scream and chitter - with her little arms and legs flaying around. Then Polly would suddenly let her go and the infant would run screaming away from her. It was horrifying to watch.

Jill observed this pair through infancy. She continued to observe as Dewa grew up and had an infant son of her own. One day, when the little boy monkey was quite small, Dewa got tired of the baby nursing. She literally pulled him off and held him firmly to the ground as he squirmed and screamed- just as her mother had done to her.

The effects of abuse, neglect and harms done to children can and will pass through generations. Often, these long-term effects on the person are unknown until the person is grown up and has children of their own.

Our children are our future. They must be protected from heavy handed, ineffective policies that marginally protect adults over the well being of our more precious asset. Our children. Let me write it again for emphasis… our children are our future.

I have written and spoken out about vaccine mandates for children and why they are wrong. Children are rarely at risk of severe disease from COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 and almost all deaths of children have been those with co-morbidities. The vaccines have a high adverse event profile in children that has not been fully analyzed. This is reason enough to not allow mandates, even State government or regional school board mandates. But I have not written as much about masks, school closures, and the selfishness of teacher’s unions, who are more interested in protecting themselves than children.

Children are at very little risk from COVID-19 severe disease. Most kids in the USA now have natural immunity, many have been vaccinated, and Omicron is nothing more than a cold for the vast majority of children and adults. Even during Delta, children rarely develop severe COVID-19 disease. They have strong, healthy immune systems. This disease is stratified by age and co-morbidities. We all know this by now. Furthermore, neither masks nor vaccines prevent infection, replication or transmission of the Omicron strain of SARS-CoV-2.

There is no reason to mask children in schools. There is no reason to mask children in shops, restaurants, parks, after school program, etc. There is no reason for children to have plexiglass shields around them in the class room. There is no reason why we need to deny children exercise programs, sports, after school care and physical education. It is time to end social distancing programs and let kids be kids. Children are social beings. Having normal social interactions with other people, with other children is critical to growing up in a health environment. Social isolation of children is not ok. Sports, after school program, childcare, recreational activities and extracurricular activities need to return to normalcy.

One important way children learn is by mimicry. Facial expressions of friends, teachers, mentors, parents not only are important for speech development, they are important for children to learn emotional norms and behaviors. We do not know what damage we are doing by masking. At this point, long term effects are unknown.

Furthermore, the COVID-19 unvaccinated children must be treated no differently than any other child. It is not anyone’s business other than the parent’s whether a child is vaccinated for COVID-19 or not. American’s have a fundamental right to privacy and there is no exclusionary clause for people younger than a certain age. Unvaccinated children or unmasked children should not be segregated, shamed or put in special rooms. They should not be excluded from the playground or sports activities. Society, our government, is doing an unprecedented and known amount of damage to the healthy development of our children. This has to stop.

COVID-19 testing of our school children needs to end. Not only is it a medical procedure that is being forced upon children, often without their permission, it is not needed. It is uncomfortable and more than that, it is a violation of their bodies. This is particularly true when schools and other social institutions are forcing this test upon children because of their vaccination status.

As the Biden administration doubles down on masks, testing and vaccines for children, people are waking up. The democrats are creating an army of new republicans and independent families, who are currently and will be voting in the future at the midterms.


That's a 14-percentage point swing from a nine-point Democratic advantage to a five-point GOP edge, and among the largest advantages the GOP has ever held in Gallup polling.

As we travel around the country, speaking a conferences, churches, summits and rallies, we hear from parents over and over again phrases like this.

“I used to be a democrat, but now I don’t think I will ever be able to vote for a democrat again.”

“ I don’t know what I am anymore.”

“I am questioning everything I use to believe about the democratic party”

The science is very clear on our children. The data is clear. Children need to be allowed to have normal childhoods. Our parents who are paying attention know this.

Our children are our most precious assets.

If you doubt what I am saying, then Listen to their stories.

And then listen to what a pediatric cardiologist and a pediatric psychiatrist have to say about this.

What we are doing is wrong. It must stop. Now. The damage already done will last for decades.

https://strongandfreecanada.org/iron-will/the-science-behind-taking-off-the-mask-interview-with-tyson-gabriel/?source=patrick.net

The Science Behind Taking Off the Mask

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience".C.S.Lewis

Patrick says

Don't go back.

https://boriquagato.substack.com/p/after-peak-covid-season?source=patrick.net

curve separation is minimal and as can be seen, “no mandate” outperformed slightly.

this pretty much puts paid to the “but it would have been worse!” nope. there’s just no difference to speak of and such difference as exists leans against mask mandate.

and nope, N-95’s would not have helped either. they work just the same as other masks, which is to say, not at all.

I've said it before, masks probably do stop some transfer of the virus. The problem lies in the fact you're touching your face probably 10-20x's as much adjusting a mask. You're then potentially putting viral load on your mask and breathing it in all day.

Besides your ass for AIDS, you should really touch your face as little as possible besides things like shaving, putting contacts in, washing, etc. Your mouth and nose are the most likely points of viral infection and we're asking people to touch their faces to adjust a mask exponentially more than normal.