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Looking back, it seems more obvious than ever to me that the main purpose of introducing masks — at the height of summer — was to perpetuate fear. ...

Five Years On, Let's Not Forget the Victims of Mask Mania

On June 4th 2020, Grant Shapps (then Transport Secretary) announced that the wearing of face coverings
would soon become compulsory when travelling on public transport. The next day, this mandate was
extended to healthcare for staff, patients and visitors and, the following month, masks became
mandatory in all shops, on pain of £100 fines for the non-compliant. At this time, hiding one's face behind
strips of cloth or plastic was portrayed as an act of virtue, and the masked compliers were perceived as
occupying the moral high ground. To impose a public health restriction in the absence of robust evidence
for its effectiveness was bad enough. But, even more shameful, was the total disregard of the harms of
community masking.

So, on this five-year anniversary of forced mask wearing, let us pause and spare a thought for the multiple
victims of mask mania.

As he puts it, let’s not forget:

the swathes of babies and toddlers who failed to bond with their faceless care givers, thereby stunting their longer term cognitive and emotional development…

the many victims of historical physical and sexual abuse who were further traumatised by the mask requirements…

the 18 million UK adults with hearing difficulties who — because masks muffled voices and made it impossible to lipread — were plunged into a communication vacuum…

the patients with existing respiratory problems whose breathing difficulties were exacerbated, those who were put at greater risk of contracting pneumonia and other bacterial infections, and those who were exposed to the inhalation of micro-plastics…

the millions of distressed and frightened NHS service users and care home residents who, as a consequence of the often stymied relationships resulting from masked protagonists, experienced sub-optimal care…

the rational minority who, because they opted not to wear a mask, were harassed and abused by others. On one occasion such an assault led to the death of a young woman…