Mask mandates in and of themselves have probably had practically zero effect. There is no mandate in Virginia and people are choosing to wear them of their own free will in many cases. The marginal effect of a mandate must be close to zero.

Anonymous wrote:Masks DO work - it's basic physics. N95 > surgical > cloth but cloth is still better than nothing.

https://twitter.com/j_g_allen/status/1476176934568611843

No one is saying that N 95 masks don’t work. We’re just concerned that we were gaslit for two years that people who wear scarves or bandanas over their mouths and noses were somehow more responsible than people who wore no mask at all. Again, if MoCo was serious about Covid they would mandate N95 masks and provide them free of charge to residents. They would also not accept people who have J&J or J&J boosters as being fully vaccinated and would order these vaccines off the shelves in favor of Pfizer or Moderna.

Anonymous wrote:Masks DO work - it's basic physics. N95 > surgical > cloth but cloth is still better than nothing.

https://twitter.com/j_g_allen/status/1476176934568611843

Ah, but there is a big gulf between "do masks filter stuff" and "do mass mask mandates work?"

That was one of the key points in my post above. There is a huge huge human factor here.

Masks DO work - it's basic physics. N95 > surgical > cloth but cloth is still better than nothing.

https://twitter.com/j_g_allen/status/1476176934568611843

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Masks are useless. A chain limo fence trying to keep bee’s out of your yard….and w omicron, the bee can’t even sting…

No they aren't and plenty of studies to prove it.

Please cite one study that involved people in a real life setting. I’ll wait.

Since the start of the pandemic, areas without mask mandates have similar rates of infection and deaths per capita as areas that imposed strict mandates. Look at the numbers for yourself. No study needed, though the latest studies do show the cloth masks that most people wear are basically useless. All the data is there if you dare to do your own research rather than mindlessly repeat the mantras of those who politicized this.

It’s pretty obvious to anyone with half a brain that masks don’t work that well.

Here we are in the Nth wave of covid and we are still talking about masks like they are the difference between Covid continuing and Covid somehow ending.

Find me a city in America that isn't experiencing a surge in Covid because of its effective mask policy.


It makes me think of the old joke/fallacy about the "Tiger protection amulet"

Person #1 is wearing a Tiger Protection Amulet to protect them from tiger attacks. Person #2 asks them how they know it works, and Person 1 responds, "Well, I have never been attacked by a tiger, so it must."

Only in this case Person 2 would respond, "but everyone in the city is required to wear a Tiger Protection Amulet and the city is in its 4th giant wave of tiger attacks in the last two years."

Person 1 would respond, "Well, just imagine how bad the tigers would be if we didn't have the amulets."


To be clear, I am not saying masks don't help. I think there are almost certainly circumstances where the right mask worn the right way is valuable, but does that hold in the general population?

Does it apply to the real world general population? They are overwhelmingly wearing cloth masks of dubious efficacy and are overwhelmingly wearing them poorly. Worse, I fear masks give people a false sense of security, prompting them to engage in activities they otherwise might not.

You can find instances of people on the internet questioning whether they should wear their mask while meeting people on dates or for hookups... or we can all surely think of an instance where someone has commented, "I did XYZ activity recently, oh, but everyone was masked!"


My personal theory is that in the fullness of time the verdict on mass mask mandates in this pandemic will be that they did nothing, and might even have been a net negative. Of course that is just a theory and what comes next is data collection, analysis, etc... science basically.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Masks are useless. A chain limo fence trying to keep bee’s out of your yard….and w omicron, the bee can’t even sting…

No they aren't and plenty of studies to prove it.

Please cite one study that involved people in a real life setting. I’ll wait.

Since the start of the pandemic, areas without mask mandates have similar rates of infection and deaths per capita as areas that imposed strict mandates. Look at the numbers for yourself. No study needed, though the latest studies do show the cloth masks that most people wear are basically useless. All the data is there if you dare to do your own research rather than mindlessly repeat the mantras of those who politicized this.

It’s pretty obvious to anyone with half a brain that masks don’t work that well.

They do a tremendous job of allowing the wearer to virtue signal by wearing their mask by walking to their table before taking it off though

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Masks are useless. A chain limo fence trying to keep bee’s out of your yard….and w omicron, the bee can’t even sting…

No they aren't and plenty of studies to prove it.

Please cite one study that involved people in a real life setting. I’ll wait.

Since the start of the pandemic, areas without mask mandates have similar rates of infection and deaths per capita as areas that imposed strict mandates. Look at the numbers for yourself. No study needed, though the latest studies do show the cloth masks that most people wear are basically useless. All the data is there if you dare to do your own research rather than mindlessly repeat the mantras of those who politicized this.

It’s pretty obvious to anyone with half a brain that masks don’t work that well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Masks are useless. A chain limo fence trying to keep bee’s out of your yard….and w omicron, the bee can’t even sting…

No they aren't and plenty of studies to prove it.

Please cite one study that involved people in a real life setting. I’ll wait.

Since the start of the pandemic, areas without mask mandates have similar rates of infection and deaths per capita as areas that imposed strict mandates. Look at the numbers for yourself. No study needed, though the latest studies do show the cloth masks that most people wear are basically useless. All the data is there if you dare to do your own research rather than mindlessly repeat the mantras of those who politicized this.

This potentially speaks to the efficacy of masks not necessarily mandates.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Masks are useless. A chain limo fence trying to keep bee’s out of your yard….and w omicron, the bee can’t even sting…

No they aren't and plenty of studies to prove it.

Please cite one study that involved people in a real life setting. I’ll wait.

Since the start of the pandemic, areas without mask mandates have similar rates of infection and deaths per capita as areas that imposed strict mandates. Look at the numbers for yourself. No study needed, though the latest studies do show the cloth masks that most people wear are basically useless. All the data is there if you dare to do your own research rather than mindlessly repeat the mantras of those who politicized this.

This. I wear my mask religiously. And I will continue to wear it, mask mandate or not.

But I would prefer they make these policies (mask mandates/vaccine mandates) based on how effective they prove to be. Especially now that we DO have data, since we’ve been doing this for 2 years already.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Masks are useless. A chain limo fence trying to keep bee’s out of your yard….and w omicron, the bee can’t even sting…

No they aren't and plenty of studies to prove it.

Please cite one study that involved people in a real life setting. I’ll wait.

Since the start of the pandemic, areas without mask mandates have similar rates of infection and deaths per capita as areas that imposed strict mandates. Look at the numbers for yourself. No study needed, though the latest studies do show the cloth masks that most people wear are basically useless. All the data is there if you dare to do your own research rather than mindlessly repeat the mantras of those who politicized this.

So the mask mandate for MoCo is extended through Jan 31 while surrounding Maryland counties have equivalent numbers of cases (per 100k people) and nearby Virginia counties have half as many cases, most without a mask mandate.

It seems to me the energy to enforce masks would be better off translated into caution to protect oneself and others. It's not the maskless person in a grocery store that concerns me but the one that's repeatedly coughing in a mask.

I am skeptical that mask mandates even work. This is a separate issue from whether masks work. I think most people in Montgomery County will wear masks even without a mandate. And in areas where people are unvaccinated and not wearing masks a mandates is politically impossible. So we should get rid of them.

Thank God for all these mandates and rules keeping the case rates low. Stop omicron! Mask up!

If MoCo was really serious about this they would require, and pay for, N 95 masks for all residents because every doctor worth their salt is now saying that cloth masks do nothing compared to N 95 masks verse Omicron. Also, they would require Pfizer or Moderna boosters for all J&J vaccinated residents and would not count people who weren’t boosted with Pfizer or Moderna as vaccinated.

They’re doing neither of these things, which leads me to believe it’s moreso political theater and a power play than actual concern about Covid or adherence to science.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Masks are useless. A chain limo fence trying to keep bee’s out of your yard….and w omicron, the bee can’t even sting…

No they aren't and plenty of studies to prove it.

Please cite one study that involved people in a real life setting. I’ll wait.