Free Republic

The Biden administration will be distributing hundreds of millions of free N95 masks from the Strategic National Stockpile, according to a report. The administration's plan, which will be announced Wednesday, involves dispersing N95s through pharmacies and community sites, offering more Americans easier access to the medical-grade protective masks amid the spike of COVID-19 cases, Politico reported.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday formally rejected a request to block the federal mask mandate for air travel. A father of an autistic child, Michael Seklecki, filed the emergency application, asserting that he and his child are not able to wear a mask. Lucas Wall also joined the lawsuit, claiming that he has been unable to fly because he is medically unable to wear a mask as well. The request, filed to Justice Neil Gorsuch, was denied by the justices with no further comment.

YouTube took action against conservative commentator Dan Bongino’s channel Friday, suspending it for violating the platform’s COVID-19 misinformation policy and demonetizing it for at least 30 days. The weeklong posting suspension stems from a video where Bongino said that masks are “useless” in stopping the spread of the disease. YouTube’s COVID-19 policy specifically prohibits content denying the effectiveness of wearing masks, which the vast majority of the scientific community agrees reduces the risk of infection. The video was Bongino’s first “strike” under the policy, resulting in a one-week suspension from posting.

The anti-fogging sprays and cloths that have become popular to help stop glasses from steaming up when wearing a face mask may be exposing users to carcinogens. That is the warning from Duke University-led experts, who found these treatments may contain cancer-causing per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS). The team subjected four anti-fogging sprays and five anti-fogging cloths — all of which have received top ratings on Amazon — to high-resolution mass spectrometry. Specifically, the chemical analysis found that all nine products contained so-called fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs) and fluorotelomer ethoxylates (FTEOs). These are two types of PFAS that have, until...

Over 150 studies find that wearing masks makes no difference stopping the spread of the China virus.

It is not unreasonable to conclude that surgical and cloth masks, used as they currently are being used (without other forms of PPE protection), have no impact on controlling the transmission of Covid-19 virus. Current evidence implies that face masks can be actually harmful. The body of evidence indicates that face masks are largely ineffective. My focus is on COVID face masks and the prevailing science that we have had for nearly 20 months. Yet I wish to address this mask topic at a 50,000-foot level on the lockdown restrictive policies in general. I build on the backs of the...

Masks failed. They do not stop covid, masks never stopped covid, could not stop covid, and were known for 100 years not to stop respiratory viruses. the data from schools is outlandishly strong. Sorry to all the talismanic adherents out there who want to feel like they “did something” and visibly show tribal affinity and signal virtue, but you have all been had. The studies supporting this pseudoscience are all junk (mass gen, Kansas, Bangladesh, 200 silly droplet models) and the high quality studies all show inefficacy and have for generations. . . . . . . . . ....

CNN medical analyst Leana Wen said Monday on “Newsroom” that cloth masks are “little more than facial decorations” in preventing the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus. Anchor Victor Blackwell said, “Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city has not yet made a decision on if it will cancel the Time Square event for crowds to show up. Right now, you have to be vaccinated, and if they hold it. But for people considering going there or to the Peach Drop in Atlanta or any of the similar events across the country, what would your advice to them be?...

KYOTO, Japan — You may soon be able to check if you’ve been exposed to coronavirus from your own home — thanks in part to ostriches. Japanese scientists have developed a new face mask made with ostrich extract that can detect COVID-19 with the help of a fluorescent light and a smartphone. The non-woven mask has an ostrich antibody-bearing mouth filter. It was developed by a research group led by Yasuhiro Tsukamoto, a doctor of veterinary medicine and president of Kyoto Prefectural University. “The ostrich antibody for corona placed on the mouth filter of the mask captures the coronavirus in...

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic and mask mandates rolled out by governments worldwide have caused an “exponential increase” in face mask pollution, comprehensive research based on data collected in 11 countries suggests.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has affirmed the Commonwealth Court's decision and vacated the mask mandate issued by the acting state health secretary. This means that the mask mandate has been dropped, effective immediately. The opinion is expected to be released at a later date. Judge Saylor did not participate in the vote. The legality of the order requiring masks in K-12 schools and child care facilities went before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court earlier this week, as the two sides argued their respective positions before the justices Wednesday in Philadelphia.

In a one-page decision issued Friday afternoon, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that an order that has kept the state’s schoolchildren masked for months must be voided. The decision upholds an earlier ruling by Commonwealth Court, which found the masking order issued in August by Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam is unenforceable. Beam lacked authority to require that students wear face masks while in school in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19, the two state courts concluded. The mask mandate was challenged in court by a bloc that included Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, a Republican who...

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on Tuesday reinstated the Gov. Tom Wolf administration mandate requiring students, teachers and staff to wear face masks. The action is temporary, with the court scheduled to hear arguments on the matter on Dec. 8 and decides its fate. The court noted it has taken no position; one justice disagreed with reinstating the mandate. Acting state Secretary of Health Alison Beam, at the direction of the governor, had imposed the state-wide mandate at the start of the school year after most school districts failed to adopt policies mandating masks at the start of the school...

Which states have imposed mask mandates or rules on face coverings in response to the COVID-19 pandemic? Currently, the key variable for state mask requirements is whether vaccinated individuals are included in the requirements. States realize that convincing more residents to wear masks is one way to help slow the spread of the COVID-19 without resorting to shuttering the economy. With that in mind, political leaders have made the tough decision to require residents to wear masks or facial coverings. Currently, the key variable for state mask requirements is whether vaccinated individuals are included in the requirements. The map below,...

There is a new date for the end of Pennsylvania’s school mask mandate, and it is Dec. 4. In a follow-up opinion issued Tuesday, Commonwealth Court Judge Christine Fizzano Cannon ordered the end of the mandate effective Dec. 4. Cannon’s order reversed an earlier stay that would have kept the school masking mandate in place as long as Gov. Tom Wolf’s appeal of the court’s initial Nov. 10 order lifting its mask rule was on appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The appeal is still pending before the high court, but plaintiffs in the case had asked for the automatic...

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) intends to allow school districts to modify or end mask mandates for K-12 students starting on Jan. 17. Wolf’s administration imposed a statewide mask mandate in September, citing the surge of infections and hospitalizations from the highly contagious delta variant of the novel virus, according to the Associated Press. “Now, we are in a different place than we were in September, and it is time to prepare for a transition back to a more normal setting,” Wolf said in a statement on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Thursday it has referred more than three dozen unruly passengers to the FBI for potential criminal prosecution amid a sharp rise in onboard incidents this year. The FAA and Justice Department said they had established an information-sharing protocol for the FAA to refer unruly passenger cases to the FBI for review. The Justice Department and FBI "are committed to prioritizing the review of the cases referred by the FAA and initiating criminal prosecution where appropriate," the agencies said.

Texas Republican gubernatorial candidate Allen West said that he removed the mask of a person who confronted him at Dallas-Fort Worth airport for not wearing a mask in public. West said in a statement that he was "berated" at the DFW airport on Wednesday by a man who he called "a left-wing partisan," who "cursed and insulted" him for not wearing a mask. He then responded by "flicking the individual's mask off."

The flu can be transmitted asymptomatically, it’s more dangerous to kids than COVID, and its vaccine allows for ‘breakthrough infections.’ Yet the CDC still doesn’t recommend masks for the flu.In stark contrast to the Center for Disease Control’s recommendations that all people over the age of two wear a mask indoors to mitigate transmission of SARS-COV-2, the sections of its website dedicated to seasonal influenza do not recommend wearing masks to prevent it from spreading. Since the battle over mask mandates is most intense with regard to schools, it’s crucial to point out the pediatric mortality rate derived from the...

School administrators have faced hostility from some parents and residents after Pennsylvania’s mask order for schools took effect last month. This week, the Pennsylvania Principals Association released a survey indicating the intense backlash they are encountering from parents who oppose the statewide mask order. The survey found 44% of the principals who responded said they were threatened “by a parent, student, or community member as a result of the mask mandate.” The survey included responses from 449 members. Dr. Eric Eshbach, executive director of the Pennsylvania Principals Association, said some of the threats didn’t necessarily indicate violence. Some parents have...