Masks - contradictions and craziness
None of this has really made sense, ever
This is my last of a series of articles on masks. A few final musings, ramblings, and thoughts about where we are now. It’s a disjointed but hopefully interesting ramble through a few things stuck in my brain about masks that I want to shake loose and write down. So here are some of my final thoughts, photos and memes that I thought were worth sharing (or worth sharing again).
We all knew it was ridiculous, but we followed the rules anyway
There is a saying that a true tyranny forces you to do things you know are wrong, just to prove their power over you. That clearly happened with masks.
The rules became increasingly ridiculous. It felt like a game of Simon Says.
Stand up at a restaurant – mask on. Sit down – mask off. Science at work!
At the gym and resting between sets - mask on. Start to lift weights – mask off. Run on a treadmill - mask off. Finish running - mask back on. #followthescience
Patients in the hospital – masks off. Staff in the hospital – masks on. More science!
Hypocrisy
Then there was the hypocrisy. Many of those in power passed draconian mask mandates, then were seen over and over breaking them. They vacationed in Florida or other states or countries without mask mandates, while passing mask mandates in their home area for the unwashed masses to follow. They enjoyed expensive meals maskless, while the wait staff spent hours uncomfortably in masks serving them.
They tweeted photos of themselves maskless, in a sea of masked kids. Even though they were personally at high risk from COVID, and the kids were near zero risk.
They hugged and cavorted at bars in Florida while supporting ongoing mask mandates and criticizing “Death Santis” for not having mandates.
Many politicians have been observed putting on masks for photo ops, then removing them as soon as the camera is off. But try finding a video of this on the internet. It’s not something we are supposed to see. This link should work (for now).
The hypocrisy of mask mandates really struck me in early 2021. I had to go to the hospital to pick up some supplies. I dropped into an area that was formerly an ER, since shut down and changed to an outpatient clinic, which had then morphed into the “COVID assessment centre”. I needed to ask a question but couldn’t find anyone, so headed down back. (As an aside: There were 4 staff - a doc, a ward clerk, and 2 nurses. There were zero patients when I arrived. This is at a time in the Canadian healthcare system when people could not find a physician or nurse to get needed care. These staff were sitting, idle, being paid for a full day’s work for being available to do COVID swabs. But this is a different rabbit hole). The physician working there that day is publicly a STRONG advocate of strictly following all public health measures, including masking. All 4 staff were sitting and happily chatting, maskless, in a back room. They hadn’t seen me come in. The minute I said “hello”, they gasped and reached for their masks. I said “don’t put on your masks on my account - I’m not sick or anything”. But they did. Gotta keep up appearances!!
No, masks didn’t get rid of the flu
One of the arguments for ongoing masking is that “masks got rid of the flu”. This would be a good argument, except it’s wrong. We had a minimal flu year everywhere - mask mandates or no mask mandates. And we have decades of data saying that mask mandates do not reduce flu-like illness (see the Cochrane Collaboration statement later in this article).
As well, there was a contradiction here. The same people who were saying that it was because we were all wearing masks that we got rid of the flu, were also saying that the reason we were having surges of COVID was that people weren’t wearing masks enough. These two things cannot be simultaneously true.
Doing the things that don’t matter is distracting from the things that do
There were things that struck me as funny. Or sad. Probably both. 2 stories spring to mind.
Fuzzy’s Fries chip wagon is an institution in downtown Sydney. The cuisine? Let’s just say it’s not exactly health food. (The original owner of the wagon is a cousin to a cardiologist. Perhaps there should be an investigation for possible collusion.) I walked by the truck on a sunny, breezy summer day and there was a lineup of patrons waiting for their share of the lard. A middle-aged couple, who collectively I would estimate were more than 300lbs overweight, stood there in N95 masks waiting to buy greasy fries. I wanted to tell them: “It’s not COVID that will kill you! It’s the fries!” COVID has killed a total of 46,000 people in Canada over 3 years, most of them very near death anyway, whereas heart disease and stroke kill almost 100,000 Canadians per year, and is very modifiable by diet. And ironically, COVID is much more dangerous for those who become obese (sometimes by eating too many Fuzzy’s Fries).
Amputations are less common now due to better medical care. But sadly they still have to be done on a regular basis. One of the big risk factors for losing a limb to poor circulation is cigarettes, which impair bloodflow in various ways. (The other big risk factor is diabetes). When I was a med student, a favourite supervisor of mine used to talk about how a patient “smoked his leg off”. Plus, if an amputation was inevitable, healing of the stump after surgery was much better if the patient quit. I was walking by the hospital in the summer and saw a patient who had obviously just had an amputation, with a big bandage on the stump of what had been her leg below the knee. She was sitting outside of hospital in the sun, in the breeze, nowhere near another human. She had a mask on, and was pulling it up slightly to take drags of her cigarette, putting it back down in between drags. Public health had frightened her into masking (alone, outside), but not into quitting smoking.
Or: “Why I don’t expect pro-maskers to change their minds”
How can masks “work”, but mandating them not make a difference in the big picture? One has to be an intellectual contortionist to make this argument, but the NYT’s and other outlets have certainly tried their best.
Despite being struck in the face over and over again by evidence, it will be very hard for most public health leaders to admit they were wrong, and impossible for politicians.
For those of us paying attention to science, and not following The Science™, it is hard not to view mask wearing as a sign of either scientific illiteracy, virtue signalling, or a toxic combination of both.
Why were they ever mandated again??
UnHerd.com has been a great source of information over the last 2 years, with insightful and heterodox opinions and data reviews. They said it well in this article. “Masks are the perfect form of hygiene theatre, conveying an intuitive sense of safety regardless of demonstrable efficacy at scale.” They made us feel we were DOING SOMETHING - doing our part to help. The anxious and worried felt that politicians were DOING SOMETHING by forcing us all to mask.
I have found that the best way to debunk Anthony Fauci is to quote Anthony Fauci. These are all direct quotes from him in 2020.
Here in Nova Scotia, our chief MOH Robert Strang did similar flip-flops.
Strang said the masks may even put people at more increased risks.
The masks can give people kind of a false reassurance as people wearing masks can become complacent about the virus on their hands. Strang said studies show with a mask on you’re more likely to put your hands to your mouth or put your hand under your mouth, so you end up infecting yourself inadvertently.
The only group of people that wearing masks can help are people with a fever and cough who are asked to stay isolated at home, or have to go to the emergency room.
If they do, then it’s helpful to wear the mask to help control the spread of viruses when they are coughing, he said.
Why I think this is still an issue worth talking about
I predicted when mask mandates first appeared in 2020 that we would still be masking years from now. It was not “science” that lead to masking but fear, and the idea that we have to do “everything possible” to prevent COVID. Even if it didn’t help. Even if it was harmful. Whenever I have asked those in power the simple question: “When can we stop masking”, the only answer I get is “When we tell you that you don’t have to anymore”. That’s not science, that’s tyranny and a desire for control.
I believe this fight is not over. Unless we push back, unless we keep pointing out the scientific and logical flaws in these arguments, mask mandates will reappear. I leave you with a few images that highlight just how insane we became in the last 3 years. Lest we forget.
Thanks for reading, and if you want to read my other mask articles, you can find them by clicking below. Also watch the Pairodocs feed and freespeechinmedicine.com for an upcoming online event where I’ll be presenting on masks, followed by a chance for online chat and Q&A.
It seems like the media and teachers unions want to bring back masking in Ontario. They are talking about the hospitals being overwhelmed again too.
So frustrating.
love this article ! Please keep writing . You are keeping all of us sane ! Thank you!