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Even If Masks Work In Theory, They Aren’t Working In Practice
Townhall.com ^ | September 21, 2020 | Scott Morefield

Posted on 09/21/2020 4:57:14 AM PDT by Kaslin

Our family’s visit to a Virginia restaurant the other day wasn’t particularly unusual in the coronavirus era, although that state’s requirements are more stringent than most. The staff were all wearing masks and, in this case, plastic gloves as well. The iced tea bin was behind the counter where customers couldn’t touch it, and Virginia restaurants are apparently required to give customers a new plastic cup for every refill. (Somehow, the left went from banning plastic straws to probably tripling the amount of plastic waste generated by restaurants but hey, there could be a .000001% less chance of someone possibly catching the WORSTEST VIRUS EVER, so screw the environment, right?)

Anyway, I won't name the restaurant, but it was one of those places where you walk in, place your order, get your drinks, pay, then sit down and wait for your food to come up at the counter, at which point they call your order number. Of course, you had to shout through the giant plexiglass screen, then bend your head just to hear the muffled voice of the cashier, who was asking questions and punching buttons with one ungloved finger on an otherwise gloved hand. From the stains as well as the home-cut finger opening (so he could push the buttons), it was obvious he hadn't changed his gloves in quite some time, and certainly not for the two customers in line before us.

Even more disturbingly, as he spoke to us the cashier adjusted his obviously moist, stained mask with his gloved hand at least five times, at one point putting his thumb and forefinger across his entire mouth and moving the mask farther up the bridge of his nose. Thank God we were ‘spared’ any potential ‘droplets’ from his nose (because we all know how those nose droplets barrel through plexiglass), but it did come at the cost of spreading whatever nastiness was on his mask to pretty much everything else he touched.

We placed our order, paid with a credit card, then then watched the cashier grab our cups from the stack and proceed to put his gloved fingers inside (INSIDE, I kid you not) three of them at once as he made his way to the ice maker and tea bin to get our drinks (COVID restrictions in Virginia apparently do not allow us to get our own tea … you know, for ‘safety’).

Now the last thing I’m trying to do is bash hard-working restaurant employees. I’ve been one myself and I know how hard and thankless the work is. I won’t go into any more detail on the incident above, but suffice it to say I wouldn’t have dreamed of being rude to him. What I am trying to point out, however, is how supposedly well-meaning COVID restrictions - and even restaurants trying to 'help' by going above and beyond, as the gloves seemed to be - have turned our reality into a place where the 'letter of the law' (or mandate) is more important than common sense or actual results.

Indeed, if you had told me in 2019 that there would come a day when virtually the entire world would seriously believe there are absolutely no negatives to wearing a moist, bacteria-laden germ-collector on one’s face and breathing through it all day, I wouldn’t have believed it. Yet, here we are, where even the esteemed head of the Center for Disease Control is telling people with a straight face that masks - yes masks - are MORE protective than a vaccine. At this point, face burqas have become more than simply a talisman to encourage the public to venture out and engage the economy - they have become a religious cult. Dare to question it in any way, and they’ll shut you down - or attempt to - and they typically won’t even bother to try to respond to any of the points you make.

Take last week, for example, when I attempted to post that amazing mask article by Daniel Horowitz I mentioned in last week’s post on my own humble personal Facebook page. (I typically don’t plug this page, but lately I’ve gotten in the habit of posting some great clips and COVID-related news items there, so you’re welcome to visit and follow it if you like.) After a few days, the “fact-checker” bot discovered and flagged the post as “partly false information.” Why, you ask? Because Big Tech has apparently deemed fit to decide that this is “settled science,” or something. “Masks work,” don’t you know, and that’s all there is to it. To ‘refute’ the post, Facebook oddly linked to an article written by healthfeedback.org in May responding to an entirely different anti-mask post. It goes through the usual ridiculous model-based “studies” to ‘prove’ that mask-wearing ‘works,’ but then it also notably says this:

“The post is correct in stating that improper handling of face masks or cloth coverings creates a risk for infection, as infectious droplets may potentially contaminate the external and internal surfaces. However, this is far from an insurmountable obstacle, as this risk can be minimized by exercising caution when removing the mask. The CDC has advised that individuals should wash their hands and avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth after removing their mask, and that cloth masks should be regularly washed.”

Now let’s put aside the other arguments, many if not most of which I have covered in past posts, and just get real for a second with some gold old-fashioned common sense. Does anyone sincerely think that most of the public, who are non-medical professionals, handle masks correctly? Just take a look at the masks on most restaurant employees or even people you pass in the street. People are constantly touching them and they’re often visibly dirty, which suggests they aren’t being laundered daily or even regularly. Most people I know carry them around in their cars, in and out of their pockets, and leave them lying around wherever with little regard for the biohazards they are. Instead of potentially dangerous droplets falling to the ground where they’ve fallen for the entirety of human history, we’ve chosen to catch them in one ‘convenient’ place so they can then be distributed to surfaces humans touch on a regular basis.

In other words, even IF correctly used masking worked to stop the spread of coronavirus in theory - a goal I’m not even sure we should have in the first place (as long as hospitals aren’t overwhelmed) - the practice and subsequent real-world results are an entirely different thing. This could be why in place after place that has instituted mandatory masking, from California to Israel to Peru to Columbia to India to countless others, the virus continues to spread unabated and seemingly even faster than in non-masked places, only finishing when it runs its course at 15 to 25 percent seroprevalence.

Please consider staying informed with the latest and BEST COVID-19-related information by joining the over 2,100 people already following my brand-new COVID ‘Team Reality’ list. It’s a great first step in the long-haul fight against corona fascism!


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: covid19; facemasks; wuhancoronavirus
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To: Kaslin

If masks are so good at capturing virii, why aren’t they treated as medical waste after use?


21 posted on 09/21/2020 5:45:56 AM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: exnavy

...nuisance...


22 posted on 09/21/2020 5:51:09 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Raycpa

It may be your passport, but it isn’t protecting anyone. It is only emboldening those who want power and control over others.


23 posted on 09/21/2020 5:52:16 AM PDT by FamiliarFace
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To: Kaslin

The mask is not about disease prevention, the mask is about control.


24 posted on 09/21/2020 5:55:27 AM PDT by MrBambaLaMamba ("It's a lie. It's all lies.")
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To: Raycpa

I don’t wear the silly masks and have never been refused service. The only time I was questioned about not wearing one was when I was wearing a Trump hat and I think that is what the bitch had a problem with.


25 posted on 09/21/2020 5:55:39 AM PDT by Beagle8U ("I nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz to be the next USSC justice.")
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To: Kaslin

Masks probably cut transmission risk by 90% for a 15-minute grocery store foray.

I’ve had seven respiratory reactions after about 60 store visits.

Masks are a risk reduction tool.

Police cut crime but don’t eliminate it.


26 posted on 09/21/2020 6:07:28 AM PDT by Brian Griffin
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To: mewzilla

I was never afraid of getting sick since this whole plandemic until they instituted mandatory masks in my state.

Now I am afraid of getting the flu from some flu particles coughed out by the person in line in front of me that settle onto my mask and that I breathe in for the ten minutes it takes to get through the line and get out of the store.


27 posted on 09/21/2020 6:11:12 AM PDT by CheshireTheCat ("Forgetting pain is convenient.Remembering it agonizing.But recovering truth is worth the suffering")
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To: Ouchthatonehurt

“It’s like a large-scale game of Simon Says, but instead of Simon - it’s Science.”

I like that: “Science says”.


28 posted on 09/21/2020 6:11:17 AM PDT by cymbeline
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To: ConservativeInPA
"In simple terms, the virus is small enough to penetrate the fabric of a mask. That’s the theory."

Virus proteins rapidly denature in open air. They can only survive within water droplets. SARS-CoV-2 primarily transmits via respiratory droplets, which are readily filtered by even basic masks. Here's a visual of that happening from a study conducted:

Source

SARS-CoV-2 requires droplets in order to travel between persons. A properly made, properly worn mask reduces both the volume and the range of those droplets.

In practice, many people wear poorly constructed masks and many wear masks incorrectly. That isn't a problem with the masks; it's an education problem.

29 posted on 09/21/2020 6:14:50 AM PDT by 2aProtectsTheRest (The media is banging the fear drum enough. Don't help them do it.)
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To: Raycpa
My mask is my passport.

Werner? Werner Brandes is that you?

30 posted on 09/21/2020 6:17:13 AM PDT by IYAS9YAS (There are two kinds of people: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.)
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To: Vermont Lt

Why?

Because I like the small biz people whose establishments I chose to frequent. And I will NOT be used as a bludgeon to beat them with.


31 posted on 09/21/2020 6:19:53 AM PDT by mewzilla (Break out the mustard seeds.)
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To: mewzilla

...choose...


32 posted on 09/21/2020 6:20:14 AM PDT by mewzilla (Break out the mustard seeds.)
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To: DuncanWaring

That is a very good question.


33 posted on 09/21/2020 6:20:19 AM PDT by Dutch Boy
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To: mewzilla

No, because you can wear a mask for more than 15 minutes.

If you don’t believe they work, then wear the same one. It sounds like you wear them once and toss them. That is OK, I guess. But you are spending a lot of money on something you don’t think works. Toss them on the car seat and wear them again.


34 posted on 09/21/2020 6:38:28 AM PDT by Vermont Lt
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To: ConservativeInPA

They do not work in theory, nor practice. In simple terms, the virus is small enough to penetrate the fabric of a mask.

COVID-19 is about .12 microns in size. It’s my understanding that trying to stop it with a common mask is like shooting a BB through a chain link fence.


35 posted on 09/21/2020 6:50:25 AM PDT by excalibur21
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To: mewzilla
BTW, we can’t find disposable masks made anywhere but in China.

Wonder if those masks are 'pre-infected'?

Naaaaahhh...the Chinese would NEVER do that.

36 posted on 09/21/2020 6:56:37 AM PDT by who knows what evil? (Yehovah saved more animals than people on the ark...siameserescue.org)
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To: 2aProtectsTheRest

What is it, exactly, about this virus that makes it necessary to wear masks for at least six months, and possibly up to twice that, when no other pandemic of similar or greater magnitude did before? Including Spanish Flu.


37 posted on 09/21/2020 7:07:48 AM PDT by SoCal Pubbie
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To: SoCal Pubbie

——What is it, exactly, about this virus that makes it necessary to wear masks for at least six months, and possibly up to twice that,——

To scare Karen.


38 posted on 09/21/2020 7:09:35 AM PDT by VastRWCon (Fake News)
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To: VastRWCon; 2aProtectsTheRest; SoCal Pubbie
——What is it, exactly, about this virus that makes it necessary to wear masks for at least six months

The upcoming presidential election.


39 posted on 09/21/2020 7:24:20 AM PDT by Vlad The Inhaler ("All men and women created by - go - you know, you know - the thing")
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To: 2aProtectsTheRest

Thank you for a common sense post.


40 posted on 09/21/2020 8:05:56 AM PDT by Hiddigeigei ("Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish," said Dionysus - Euripides)
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