Many nations across the globe are continuing to mandate that people out in public must wear masks.
As we have long been reporting, there is no hard, scientific data that wearing masks effectively stops the spread of the coronavirus. We noted that the CDC; the WHO; and America’s “most respected infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci had, before bowing to political pressure, recommended not wearing them.
Among the studies proving their ineffectiveness, the University of Ulsan College of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea, found both surgical and cotton masks are ineffective when it comes to blocking droplets of the SARS–CoV-2 virus that may be generated when somebody coughs or sneezes.
And, there have been numerous health experts providing data that wearing masks can in fact can be unhealthy.
Yet, the Mask Madness gains momentum.
In the U.S., Wisconsin’s head of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Preston Cole, emailed his employees to “Wear your mask, even if you are home, to participate in a virtual meeting that involves being seen – such as on Zoom or another video-conferencing platform. Set the safety example which shows you as a DNR public service employee care about the safety and health of others.”
Megan Sheridan, spokesperson for DNR, said this was trying to create “a very visual reminder to all that wearing a mask in a public setting helps prevent the spread of COVID-19.”
Ignoring contradictory “science” and “health experts,” Wisconsin Governor Evers said, “We’ve said all along that we’re going to let science and public health experts be our guide in responding to this pandemic.”
The brilliant “health” and “science”-minded Governor has exempted infants under age 2 and those who are “unconscious” from wearing a mask.
No Mask = Murder?
On 5 August, Nashville, Tennessee At-Large Council Member Sharon Hurt stated for anyone not wearing a mask in public, “If they pass the virus, then they are tried for murder or attempted murder.”
Nashville’s mayor, John Cooper, ordered the police to issue citations to any citizen not wearing a mask in pubic.
It should be noted the city’s health department reported Nashville had seen a decline in COVID-19 cases.
As of last Thursday, there were 221 deaths in the greater Nashville area out of a population of 692,587 or 0.032 percent.
Identifying the Mask-less
As we’ve been reporting in the Trends Journal, Major League Baseball (MLB) has been struggling to keep its shortened season alive.
About 20 players opted out from the beginning citing fear of contracting the virus and spreading it to their families. Some 30 other players have contracted the virus and are in quarantine.
All fans have been banned from stadiums, eliminating a major source of income. Those watching on TV see cardboard cutouts of people in the stands and hear piped-in crowd noises to try to give some atmosphere.
It has been reported that MLB, trying to come up with safe ways to let fans back into stadiums, has entered into conversations with Airspace Systems Inc., a California company developing remote cameras, to help detect individuals in crowds who are not wearing masks or are wearing them improperly.
The company has been in negotiations with airports and the U.S. Army as well. Its technology would allow organizations and security officials to monitor large facilities for violators of mask and social distancing protocols without the need to train additional staff.
So far, Airspace Systems Inc. claims early experimental success at identifying proper mask use with an accuracy of over 80 percent.
The company dismissed concerns about privacy violation, citing the software automatically pixelates faces making them unrecognizable. Founder and CEO Jaz Banga stated its customers are looking at ways to encourage compliance in non-threatening ways. One example he cited would be to have someone dressed as a nurse go around offering free masks.
TRENDPOST: We have, over the months, provided scientific facts that the face masks worn by the general population are useless. Rather than stopping the virus from spreading or from someone catching it, they have instilled a false sense of security among a society gripped in COVID Fear.
As reported in Infection Control Today (ICD), Lisa Brosseau, a nationally recognized expert on infectious diseases who taught for many years at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said,
“What we’re seeing is a lot of magical thinking. A lot of wishful thinking. Cloth masks are wishful thinking.”
“First of all, for healthcare and community, but also do they work as source control? Or do they work as personal protective equipment? Or both? And at the end of the day, cloth masks in my opinion don’t work in any form.”
Biden: Make Masks Mandatory
Last Thursday, Presidential candidate and former VP Joe Biden announced his support for a national mask mandate. Appearing with his vice-presidential running mate Senator Kamala Harris, they both were wearing matching black masks. They only took off the masks when speaking to the press.
Mr. Biden said, “Every single American should be wearing a mask when they’re outside for the next three months, at a minimum…Every governor should mandate mandatory mask-wearing… The estimates are we will save over 40,000 lives in the next three months if that is done.”
TRENDPOST: We researched the article the vice president referred to above claiming 40,000 lives would be saved if people wore masks in public. What we found was this disclaimer at the top of the article:
“This article is a preprint and has not been peer-reviewed. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice.”
The brief disclaimer linked to a more detailed one that explains:
“Typically, a journal will only publish an article once the editors are satisfied that the authors have addressed referees’ concerns and that the data presented support the conclusions drawn in the paper.
Readers should therefore be aware that articles have not been finalized by authors, might contain errors, and report information that has not yet been accepted or endorsed in any way by the scientific or medical community.
We also urge journalists and other individuals who report on medical research to the general public to consider this when discussing work that appears on medRxiv preprints and emphasize it has yet to be evaluated by the medical community and the information presented may be erroneous.”
Following his mask-wearing proclamations, Mr. Biden’s recently announced running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, commented, “That’s what real leadership looks like.”
TREND FORECAST: The longer mask-wearing orders are imposed, the deeper economies will fall.
The general population is clenched in fear. Afraid to go out, and when they do, they are masked up and hand sanitized, worried the coronavirus will get them.
Walking down empty streets, driving in cars with windows rolled up, the invisible, evil virus lurks in their minds.
From pre-school to graduate school to the world of business, as long as society is masked up, social experiences will evaporate along with all the businesses and services that support them.
No weddings, no birthday parties, no sports, no concerts, no social experiences… no goods, no services, no jobs, no income allowed in the New ABnormal.