[palmer]

"Watching young, healthy people jogging or hiking on isolated trails in mid-July around Colorado Springs in cloth and surgical masks drives me nuts. They're not protecting anyone else and are likely making themselves sick."

Agree completely. But that's a red herring. As usual there's not much meat in the article, just this

Meanwhile, a recent journal article in the New England Journal of Medicine acknowledges: "The chance of catching COVID-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is... minimal. In many cases, the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic."

That may be true, but doesn't mean a mask is useless.

[cba123]

Masks are a large part of the reason that Vietnam is currently not running infections of Covid. Lack of visas, are also important.

Facemasks were required by EVERYONE for two months.

Everyone.

Now they’re not, but lots of people are still wearing them, even now.