Bummer: Masks No Longer A Choice For Government To Impose On Citizens

Mask cultists are a bit upset that government is mostly unwilling to force people to wear masks anymore

Masks fall out of favor as policy choice

During the second game of the NBA Finals on Sunday, celebrated Boston Celtics first-year coach Ime Udoka pulled down his face mask to apparently utter an imprecation at Steph Curry, the Golden State Warriors superstar preparing to shoot a free throw. Udoka then diligently pulled his mask back up, only to pull it back down again to lob another insult in Curry’s direction.

Udoka’s itinerant mask wearing (one often rests on his chin during the game, but he puts it on during the post-game press conferences) is a symbol of sorts for a nation where most people still support wearing face coverings as a coronavirus preventative measure — but many are also no longer doing so.

He’s nor really wearing it, though. If you’re going to wear it, you keep it on, especially when you’re yelling, which would spread COVID, the flu, a cold, etc, further. But, you see a lot of maskers doing this. It’s more about virtue signaling than anything else

Some denounced Udoka for engaging in virtue signaling, while others celebrated his efforts. “I’m no Celtics fan, but I really appreciate Coach Udoka wearing a mask,” tweeted Dr. Lucky Tran, a public health advocate who has called for protective measures to remain in place. “Sure, he doesn’t wear it 100% of the time, but he clearly makes an effort when he’s in close contact with his players and the press.”

The players who aren’t wearing masks, and interacting with players of the other team not wearing masks? And all the fans not wearing masks? And wearing a cloth mask which studies have shown make almost no difference? If he wears one because he doesn’t feel good he should stay home.

In this third summer of the pandemic, public health policy has largely devolved to a matter of personal preference, with new mask mandates a rarity but the debate over masking hardly diminished from earlier stages of the pandemic.

Even though the coronavirus case count remains at high levels, Americans’ behavior no longer reflects that reality. The availability of vaccines and treatments appears to have attenuated pandemic anxiety, which has been replaced by fresh anxieties about war, crime and inflation.

Who’s debating it? Wearing a mask almost never comes up anymore, except for a few mask cult journalists and politicians. Most of the rest of us have moved on, and have no intention of wearing one again. Heck, it’s idiotic wearing one in those few places, like medical facilities, who want them worn, because they make no difference. If they did we wouldn’t have had that huge spike of Delta. Then Omicron.

Infection rates (from the latest outbreaks) appear to be falling, with an 8.5% dip this week compared to the week before. The decrease may result from the fact that so many Americans have immunity either from vaccination or a prior infection. And at-home testing has almost certainly kept public health officials from learning the true extent of the current wave, since those results are not reported, as laboratory tests are.

And yet, there are almost no mask mandates, and were almost none during the latest outbreaks. Weird, eh?

To some public health experts, the solution is simple. “Everybody should be wearing a mask,” University of Chicago infectious disease specialist Dr. Emily Landon told the podcast Nerdette late last month. “The only reason we don’t” have a mask mandate, Landon reasoned, “is because CDC decided to move the goalposts to make their recommendations more about protecting and protecting health care than about protecting individuals.”

You wear one. Otherwise, fuck off. We’re on to you people. We knew masking was BS when it started, and we know it now. How many people got it who were wearing masks? How many times do we see someone writing “I wear a mask, vaxxed and boosted, and I got COVID”?

“We all wish the pandemic was over, but it is likely to be here and harmful for the long term. Mask policies are one of the most effective approaches to reducing spread,” says Boston University public health expert Julia Raifman, who has argued that the Biden administration has not been aggressive enough in its pandemic response.

“The politics have changed,” Raifman told Yahoo News, “but the facts and policy impact haven’t.”

You keep telling yourself that. Then explain Delta and Omicron, as well as a higher death count even with the vaccines.

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