As Americans grapple with the issues of COVID-19, many think face masks are the be-all end-all solution to stop the virus’s spread. However, masks might not be providing any substantive protection, even if they are a visible symbol of a desire to see the crisis end.
Some countries, such as Sweden, rejected the suggestion that masks be required, and never shut down its society. Sweden indicated that masks can do more harm than good, and could create a false sense of security. The mortality rate from COVID-19 in Sweden is not significantly worse than in the United States, or in Western European countries which have required masks for many weeks. All have mortality from the disease of less than one in a thousand in the overall population.
Iceland is another example of a nation rejecting the route of mask police. The latest data shows Iceland has had a mortality of only 29 per million residents, which is less than 7% the reported mortality rate in the United States. Iceland had an outbreak of COVID-19, but then did what Democrats should have supported here: quarantine travelers from other countries.
When people take off their masks, their hands typically touch their faces, which the CDC has long said is a particularly dangerous habit. Dr. Fauci even wants us to stop shaking hands permanently to reduce germ transmission by touching. If that’s the case, why should we be handling masks that will inevitably come in direct contact with our nose and mouth?
The wearing of masks in public places causes harm beyond COVID, which is why face coverings were against the law in many U.S. states just a few months ago. The idea of a faceless society has long symbolized descent into totalitarian control, but that is where we are headed. The mask police are determined to exploit the COVID crisis to the fullest extent. With all the violent protesting, one would think that local authorities have better ways to spend their scarce resources than to be mask police. Yet here we are living in a day when police are more likely to come after someone not wearing a mask than someone looting a Walmart. Is this what our society should become?