It's Masks Now, Masks Forever!

If the CDC and team Brandon get their way. For the proper level of outrage, let's go to Ace: CDC Head Rachel Walensky: Hey, I've Got a Great Idea. Now That the Covid Pandemic Is Diminishing, Why Don't We Wear Masks Forever to Reduce Infection By the Flu and Even the Common Cold?

Those of you who said "they're addicted to the pandemic" or "they will never let the pandemic end," collect your winnings.

Spoiler alert: Your winnings consist of a box of drug store masks.

Where is she getting that fantastical, farcical, medical misinformation claim that masks reduce the spread of covid by 80%? Even the N95 masks that actually work only reduce transmission by 60%. The drug store masks that almost everyone actually uses reduce transmission by 10-12%, tops.

Even leftwing Covid Karen AllahPundit has finally found a covid-panic hill he isn't willing to die on. Those numbers on mask effectiveness are from him (though of course they're widely available).

Compare her "80% reduction" claim to the claim I noted in the sidebar, highlighted by leftwing comic Jimmy Dore, by a doctor on NBC's Today show that covid has killed 146,000 children.

Actual figure? Less than 700.

You are allowed to lie about covid so long as the lie supports the officially sanctioned state propaganda.

Philip Klein of the corporate neoliberal blog National Review has had enough of the Forever Masking push.

 

And we do seem to be in the early stages of a Pivot to Forever Masking, as he calls it. In addition to Walensky's suggestion that we should mask to protect even against the common cold, he notes an ABC "News" article by a doctor urging the same Forever Masking line.

[The ABC News tweet] linked to a story from contributor Jay Bhatt, a doctor and public-health professor, arguing that people should resist returning to normal after receiving their vaccine booster. But of the five reasons he lists for continued masking and social distancing, two of them are "it's flu season" and "other viruses are out there."

One of the reasons why I have tried to avoid making the argument that we don't mask during flu season, so we should not be masking for COVID-19 given that vaccines are widely available, is precisely that I was always worried that at some point, somebody would respond, "Well, we should be masking during flu season!" It seems that moment has arrived.

I wore a mask to and from California last month and absolutely hated it. It hurt my ear, was constantly fogging my glasses, and was a general nuisance. I'm fully vaccinated and boosted now, and a slight improvement in my already good odds just aren't worth the trouble. It's gotta end!

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Denise Richards ready and waiting at The Other McCain.