Philadelphia reinstates mask mandate, despite CDC guidance



Philadelphia will reinstate its citywide indoor mask mandate in response to rising COVID-19 cases, the city public health department announced Monday.

The city is is raising its COVID-19 response level to "Mask Precautions," becoming one of the only major U.S. cities to still require mask-wearing in public. Just last month, Philadelphia had moved to the "All Clear" response level, ending all pandemic restrictions.

The city will provide a one-week education period for businesses to comply with the reinstated masking rules.

"Starting April 18, masks will be required in all indoor public spaces, including schools and childcare settings, businesses, restaurants, and government buildings," the health department said. "At that time, residents will be asked to report any business not complying with the mandate."

Starting April 18, masks will be required in all indoor public spaces, including schools and childcare settings, businesses, restaurants, and government buildings. At that time, residents will be asked to report any business not complying with the mandate to @philly311. (2/4)
— Philadelphia Public Health (@Philadelphia Public Health) 1649700285

At least two conditions need to have been met for the city to return to "Mask Precautions," which is the level 2 tier above "Level 1: All Clear": average new cases per day are between 100 and 225, hospitalizations are between 50 and 100, or cases have increased by more than 50% over the last 10 days.

"The mask mandate is tied to the COVID Response Levels, and as COVID cases rise in Philly, we want to protect our most vulnerable residents. Wearing a mask around others is an easy way to do that. The sooner that we can stop this wave, the sooner we can get back to Level 1," the health department said.

At a press conference Monday, Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole said that coronavirus cases increased by more than 50% in a 10-day period last week, resulting in an average of 142 new cases per day.

"This looks like we may be at the start of a new COVID wave like Europe just saw," she said, according to WTXF-TV.

Bettigole was referring to the recent spike of coronavirus cases reported in Europe caused by the BA.2 Omicron subvariant, a more contagious but not deadlier strain of the coronavirus.

White House COVID-19 response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha spoke about the new variant on Monday, telling NBC News he is "not overly concerned right now" about the possibility of another virus surge like the Delta or Omicron surges. During an interview on "Today," Jha said that case and hospitalization numbers nationwide are among the lowest they've been during the entire pandemic.

“I don’t think this is a moment where we have to be excessively concerned,” Jha said.

Philadelphia's decision to reinstate its indoor mask mandate contradicts guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which states that areas with fewer than 200 new cases per 100,000 people in the past 7 days have low levels of community spread.

At a "low" level of spread, the CDC recommends that state and local authorities prioritize vaccination and ensure access to testing, but does not suggest that masking be required by law.

Nevertheless, the city's health department is moving forward with the mask requirement.

"I sincerely wish we didn't have to do this again," Bettigole said. "I wish this pandemic was over just as much as any of you, but I am very worried about our vulnerable neighbors and loved ones. It is my hope that our actions today will slow the spread of COVID and help us avoid seeing our ERs once again get so crowded that people can't get timely care when they need it."

Democratic LA Mayor Eric Garcetti says he held his breath during photo of him not wearing mask — despite local mask mandate — at NFL playoff game



Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said he held his breath while a photo was taken of him not wearing a mask during Sunday's NFC Championship Game at SoFi Stadium — the home field of the Los Angeles Rams.

What are the details?

NBA legend Earvin Magic Johnson posted a photo of him standing next to Garcetti during the game; neither of them is wearing a mask. But a mask can be seen in Garcetti's hand while the photo — in the top-left corner of Johnson's tweet — was snapped:

Hanging out at SoFi Stadium today!pic.twitter.com/XfotiRLGz9
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@Earvin Magic Johnson) 1643597831

A local public health officer's order requires attendees of so-called outdoor “mega events" to wear masks at all times except when “actively eating or drinking," Deadline reported.

What did Garcetti have to say?

At a Wednesday afternoon press conference on safety and security for the Super Bowl — which, as it happens, also will take place at SoFi Stadium — Garcetti told reporters he held his breath while the photo in question was taken.

“I’ll take personal responsibility,” Garcetti said, according to Deadline. "And if it makes you and everyone else happy — or even the photographs with people where literally I’m holding my breath for two seconds — I won’t even do that.”

And according to KABC-TV, Garcetti also said during Wednesday's press conference that "I wore my mask the entire game. When people ask for a photograph, I hold my breath, and I put it here, and people can see that. There is a zero percent chance of infection from that."

Gov. Gavin Newsom seen maskless, too

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom also was photographed not wearing a mask while standing next to Johnson during the game. And although Newsom didn't claim he held his breath, the governor gave a decidedly strained response defending his actions.

“I was very judicious yesterday. Very judicious," Newsom said with a seemingly nervous laugh when asked Monday about the photo of him maskless.

He continued, according to Deadline, saying that "you’ll see the photo that I did take, Magic was kind enough, generous enough, to ask me for a photograph, and in my left hand’s the mask, and I took the photo. The rest of the time I wore it, as we all should, um — not when I had a glass of water — and I encourage everybody else to do so. And, uh, that’s it.”

The outlet added that Newsom also was asked if he should have thought twice about taking off his mask given the controversy after he was spotted maskless at the posh French Laundry restaurant in 2020: “Yes, of course. I was trying to be gracious. I made a mis — I was trying to be gracious. I took the mask off for a brief second but, no, I encourage people to continue to wear them."

But as TheBlaze noted Tuesday, photo evidence from Sunday's game shows Newsom's mask down and dangling from one ear at one point. He was not eating or drinking — and those around him also weren't wearing masks:

Gov. Newsom (right) with his face mask dangling from his earImage source: LA Rams "fan cam" screenshot

Deadline appears to concur:

Footage shown during the game, however, seemed to tell a different story. It begins with a shot of a maskless Jessica Alba before cutting to a smiling Magic Johnson greeting a man who appears from the back to be the governor — similar height, similar trucker hat, similar navy blue fleece. The man walks up and moves to slap hands. Neither Johnson nor the man who approaches him are wearing masks. Other images of Newsom, sitting with and without a mask at the game, have surfaced since.
Jessica Alba, Magic Johnson & Leonardo DiCaprio at the game #nfl #LARams #49erspic.twitter.com/3njIHlipjF
— Breaking Trends News (@Breaking Trends News) 1643593875

Pushback

Republican California state Sen. Melissa Melendez in a Twitter post criticized Newsom and Garcetti for their maskless mugs:

Toddlers are being forced to wear masks all day long in school. Maybe one day they\u2019ll be governor or the mayor of LA and they won\u2019t have the follow the rules they impose on others.pic.twitter.com/YGJDZeBxGA
— Senator Melissa Melendez (@Senator Melissa Melendez) 1643604049

"Toddlers are being forced to wear masks all day long in school," Melendez wrote. "Maybe one day they'll be governor or the mayor of L.A. and they won't have to follow the rules they impose on others."

Here's a report on the issue from KABC:

Maskless Rashida Tlaib dances wildly at crowded wedding as she blasts Rand Paul for urging Americans to resist future lockdowns



Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) was captured on video wildly dancing at a jam-packed indoor wedding — and neither she nor any of the other people in the crowd were wearing masks.

According to reports, the wedding took place the same day Tlaib castigated Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) for urging Americans to resist against Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

A Fox News report noted that the wedding took place in Michigan's Wayne County, which is seeing "substantial" COVID-19 transmission.

What are the details?

The Instagram video was taken from Bassem Sales, a wedding band in the Dearborn, Michigan, area, and featured Tlaib as she danced and posed for photos with her friends and constituents on Sunday.

The band, according to Fox, tagged the wedding location as being at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center.

Tlaib's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, the outlet reported.

That same day, Tlaib took Sen. Paul to task over his remarks about resisting any potential lockdowns as a result of the Delta variant.

She tweeted, "The KY Senator is throwing a tantrum as his state is being swallowed whole by this virus, again. People are getting sick and dying. 98 counties in Kentucky have a high incidence rate of COVID-19. He needs to put politics aside, and put people first. Start resisting the virus."

The KY Senator is throwing a tantrum as his state is being swallowed whole by this virus, again. People are getti… https://t.co/SmrBphvf4b

— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) 1628481569.0

What did Paul say anyway?

On Sunday, Paul tweeted a now-viral video imploring Americans to resist any future potential lockdowns as a result of the current spike in COVID-19.

“It's time for us to resist," he insisted in the video. "They can't arrest all of us. They can't keep all of your kids home from school. They can't keep every government building closed — although I've got a long list of ones they might keep closed or might ought to keep closed. We don't have to accept the mandates, lockdowns, and harmful policies of the petty tyrants and bureaucrats. We can simply say no, not again."

He concluded, "I think the tide is turning as more and more people are willing to stand up. I see stories from across the country of parents standing up to the unions and school boards. I see brave moms standing up and saying, 'My kids need to go back to school in-person.' I see members of Congress refusing to comply with Petty Tyrant Pelosi. We are at a moment of truth and a crossroads. Will we allow these people to use fear and propaganda to do further harm to our society, economy, and children? Or will we stand together and say, absolutely not? Not this time. I choose freedom."

Rashida Tlaib Dancing • Rashida Tlaib Party • Mask [Rashida Tlaib Caught Partying Maskless]www.youtube.com

'You sound like an idiot': Chris Cuomo throws down with Tony Roman, Italian restaurant owner who posted sign mandating patrons be 'UNvaccinated'



CNN host Chris Cuomo looks to be in rare form this week.

He delivered a highly animated interview Monday trying to bait freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida into a verbal fight, which failed to launch due to Donalds' calm, cool handling of the host's combative tone.

And Cuomo was back for more action Wednesday, going head to head with Tony Roman, owner of Italian restaurant Basilico's Pasta e Vino in Huntington Beach, California, who posted a front-door sign requiring that patrons provide "proof of being UNvaccinated."

Basilico’s Pasta e Vino in Huntington Beach is requiring diners provide "proof of being unvaccinated," despite the… https://t.co/SItfYm4ORN

— FOX 11 Los Angeles (@FOXLA) 1627322403.0

The smaller print on the sign reads, "We have zero tolerance for treasonous, anti-American stupidity."

What happened?

Cuomo began the segment by introducing Roman and adding that the outspoken restauranteur also engaged in other headline-grabbing ventures such requiring patrons to go maskless inside his establishment — as well as putting up a billboard that played on a famous phrase from "The Godfather":

Image source: YouTube screenshot

As you can see, Cuomo was not thrilled.

"Of course, it has to be an Italian guy, and he's using 'The Godfather,'" Cuomo says before appearing to get flustered and shaking his head before moving on.

It's important to point out that in 2019, Cuomo was infamously caught on video threatening to throw a man down a flight of stairs for daring to refer to him as "Fredo," the weak brother in "The Godfather" — which likely gets under his skin since his older brother is New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

'Now I know you're Italian'

At that point the interview began, and Roman was shown on the right side of the screen inside his restaurant's lively kitchen. After Cuomo uttered the name of the restaurant, Roman replied, "Man, you said the name perfectly ... good job. Now I know you're Italian."

"That's 'cuz I speak the language," Cuomo replied. "Lemme guess, you don't."

And it was on.

"Tony, is this a little bit of a joke? Can you give me some hope that you really don't want people to not get vaccinated so they can come to your restaurant?" Cuomo asked, adding a New York-ish accent on the end of his query.

"That's a good question. You're a smart guy," Roman replied.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

He added, "It's an IQ test. And like I say to people when they ask me, if they're so blinded with their rage and their hate, I tell them, 'You know what, if you still don't understand it, maybe we should put up a sign ... that says you're too stupid to come into the restaurant.' I mean, it's very simple. ... I think you figured it out, am I right?"

For the record, a restaurant employee told the Los Angeles Times earlier this week that there's no way they can check if a patron hasn't been vaccinated, which tells you a lot about the intent of the sign.

The pair then begin questioning each other about their vaccination status, after which Roman tells Cuomo that he's "failing the IQ test .... which I expected. What you're not getting is that this is not an anti-vaccine stand; it's a pro-freedom stand. That's what you're not getting."

After Cuomo asserts the importance of "the science" in regard to COVID-19, Roman shoots back, "So what's next then? Are we all gonna lock ourselves in our homes whenever there's a flu outbreak? Or there's an outbreak of the common cold? ... Wear a moonsuit? I mean, where does it end?"

Cuomo then claimed "the only reason" the spread of COVID-19 variants "is happening is because people don't protect themselves, Tony. I mean, what are you thinkin'?"

'My ass it's been documented'

Roman replied by bringing up Cuomo's much-publicized bout with COVID-19: "Then why did you leave your house when you had COVID? ... It's been documented."

Then as the very old-school instrumental "Theme from a Summer Place" was audible from inside Basilico's Pasta e Vino, Cuomo got even more testy: "First of all ... my ass it's been documented."

Image source: YouTube screenshot

The host then briefly ran through his version of events before saying, "I'm trying to help you, Tony."

"You're tryin' to help me? I'm tryin' to help you," Roman responded before adding, "Oh, you care about me all of a sudden, huh?"

Cuomo then told him, "I don't like people making bad decisions for themselves and their family. I was hopin' it was a little bit of a stunt. You have the freedom not to take the vaccine. I just don't know why you don't think it's a good move."

To which Roman responded, "Maybe — maybe we should ask your brother about protecting people, right?" As readers of TheBlaze know, Andrew Cuomo has been deeply criticized for his handling of the pandemic in New York state. And on Wednesday he announced that state employees will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or get tested weekly — and also urged businesses to admit only vaccinated patrons.

"Hey, look, that's his job," Chris Cuomo replied to Roman, "and if he doesn't do it well, people won't vote for him."

'I don't shy away from much'

As the pair continued to spar, Cuomo threw down: "Look, Tony, I don't know if you know me too well; I don't shy away from much. I'm asking you about you."

Image source: YouTube screenshot

With that Roman shot back, "You talk a lot" and explained to Cuomo that he won't see signs for former President Donald Trump or political slogans at his restaurant and that his stances are not about science but about freedom.

"You're pro-freedom but people can't wear masks," Cuomo replied. "Tony, it doesn't make sense. It really doesn't. I gave you a chance to make the case. I wish you well. I hope your family stays safe."

"I made my case," Roman shot back. "You didn't have much to say. You didn't have much to say."

'You sound like an idiot'

Then Cuomo upped the ante: "I mean, honestly, you sound like an idiot, so there's not much to say. Tony, good luck with it. See ya."

"And so do you," Roman answered, after which Cuomo chirped, "Yeah, only for having you on the show, that was my only mistake."

After the interview, Cuomo spoke directly to his viewers: "Look, it's just stupid. 'I'm pro-freedom' .. what the hell is he talkin' about? ... He doesn't want to know the science. This is my problem with the enablers of guys like this. I hate that he's Italian-American, by the way, 'cause it plays into a stereotype. ... The suggestion that somehow there is a strength in the resistance to the science, to the mandate, to 'being told': 'You don't tell me ... I'll do' ... it just doesn't make any sense. It is such a false sense of strength ... a stupid ethnic stereotype masculine moronic thing to be. You wanna talk about my brother, fine. Fine. I back away from nothing. ... but guys like this? I was hoping it was a stunt. It's not. The joke's on me, but I'll tell you what: Don't be like him."

It's fair to point out that Cuomo, while criticizing "ethnic" machismo, was guilty of it more than once in his own segment. ("I don't know if you know me too well; I don't shy away from much" and "I back away from nothing.")

And let's not forget what Cuomo said in public after he was called "Fredo" just two years ago.

"Any of you Italian? It's a f***ing insult to your people. It's an insult to your f***ing people!" he told his adversary before declaring, "It's like the N-word for us."

Cuomo also told the heckler, "If you want to play then we'll f***ing play."

Here's the clip. (Content warning: Language — as well as that pesky "false sense of strength" and "stupid ethnic stereotype masculine moronic thing"):

CNN host Chris Cuomo has little to no chill when someone calls him “Fredo”. https://t.co/w8pYFfq1Q9

— Matt Bevan (@MatthewBevan) 1565662385.0

Calif. Gov. Newsom faces new scandal as he yanks his kids from summer camp with no mask requirement — but only after maskless photos emerge on social media



California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has removed his children from a summer camp after photos emerged showing his maskless son indoors with other unmasked children.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the summer camp did not require masks to be worn — a move that was in defiance of the state's COVID-19 guidance.

What are the details?

Newsom's communications director, Erin Mellon, told Fox News on Tuesday that the pictures prompted clear concerns. Newsom had two kids, ages 10 and 11, attending the day camp, Mellon said, according to the Associated Press.

"The Newsoms were concerned to see unvaccinated children unmasked indoors at a camp their children began attending yesterday," Mellon told the outlet. "Their kids will no longer be attending the camp."

According to the outlet, the state's guidance for children ages 2 to 11 states that all must be masked during "camps for youth, youth sports, and other youth activities, including theater, and music performances, and band."

After the photos emerged and Mellon's statement was circulated, a copy of the camp's mask policy — a policy that was reportedly sent to all parents before the camp began summer sessions — began making the rounds on social media and clearly stated, "Masks will not be enforced. Please know that your child is more than welcome to wear a mask during camp."

Following the controversy, the governor's office issued a follow-up statement stating that the Newsom family "reviewed communication from the camp and realized that an email was missed saying the camp would not enforce masking guidance."

What else?

Activist group Reopen California Schools made headlines with a tweet pointing out what it said was Newsom's hypocrisy.

The tweet read, "#Breaking Photos posted to Instagram reveal Gavin Newsom's 10-year-old son w/ other kids maskless, indoors & not distancing at a basketball summer camp, even while spectating. This is in clear violation of his own mask mandates. Why can his kid be maskless, but not ours?"

The tweet continued, "The photos were removed from the summer camp's Instagram account once Newsom's son was identified, but there is [sic] plenty of screenshots and video out there. We have some. The Instagram post occurs as Newsom pushes for increased vaccine rates if we ever want to be rid of masks."

The photos were removed from the summer camp’s Instagram account once Newsom’s son was identified, but there is ple… https://t.co/44Gd3ptoFS

— Reopen California Schools (@ReopenCASchools) 1627365924.0

What's Reopen California Schools?

According to the Sacramento Bee, Zachreson leads the Reopen California Schools group, which is a "parent advocacy group" that is suing the Newsom administration over its in-school mask mandates.

Earlier this month, state officials announced that all California students and educators would be required to wear masks while in school even if they are vaccinated.

The group, according to the outlet, pushed for public schools to reopen faster during the pandemic, and is now advocating for more relaxed restrictions as the 2021-22 school year gets ready to kick off.

Reopen California Schools "argues masks should be voluntary for students and teachers, and quarantine rules should be relaxed so kids aren't kept out of school even if they don't have symptoms just because of a COVID exposure," the outlet added.

Zachreson told the outlet that the incident highlights what he says is Newsom's hypocrisy.

"This clearly demonstrates that he doesn't believe there's a risk," he said. "His kids get to live by a different set of rules."

An unmasked Newsom faced scrutiny and criticism in November after photos showed him dining with a large, maskless group at an indoor restaurant..

National nurses union calls for CDC to 'reinstate universal masking' regardless of individual's vaccination status



National Nurses United wants the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to tighten its mask recommendations and call for mask-wearing regardless of whether an individual has been vaccinated against COVID-19.

"NNU strongly urges the CDC to reinstate universal masking, irrespective of vaccination status, to help reduce the spread of the virus, especially from infected individuals who do not have any symptoms. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19 disease, spreads easily from person to person via aerosol transmission when an infected person breathes, speaks, coughs, or sneezes. Asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic infected individuals can spread infectious SARS-CoV-2 aerosols during breathing and speaking, without coughing or other respiratory symptoms," NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN, wrote in a letter to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.

On its website, NNU bills itself as "the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in U.S. history," with more than 170,000 members nationwide.

The letter, among other things, calls upon the government agency to "Reinstate the recommendation for everyone to wear masks when in public or in physical proximity to others outside their own household."

The CDC's current guidance states that fully vaccinated individuals do not have to wear masks.

"You can resume activities without wearing a mask or staying 6 feet apart, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance," the CDC says, regarding those who have been fully vaccinated.

According to the CDC, 48.1% of the total U.S. population has been fully vaccinated against the disease, while 55.6% of the population has received at least a single dose of a vaccine.

While the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines require two shots, the Johnson & Johnson Janssen vaccine only involves one shot.

So far there have been more than 33.9 million COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and more than 607,000 fatalities, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

'Enough! Time to stop this farce': Sen. Rand Paul aims to bring an end to mandatory mask-wearing aboard airplanes



Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) announced Thursday that once the Senate is back in session he aims to put the kibosh on mandatory face mask wearing for air travelers.

"When the Senate returns to session, I will be introducing an immediate repeal of the mask mandate on planes. Enough! Time to stop this farce and let people travel in peace!" the Republican lawmaker tweeted.

When the Senate returns to session, I will be introducing an immediate repeal of the mask mandate on planes. Enough… https://t.co/4AND3Kbxk5
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) 1625756823.0

Paul, who has served as a senator from the state of Kentucky since 2011, is the son of former U.S. Congressman Ron Paul.

Reactions were mixed among the thousands of Twitter users who responded to Paul's tweet, with some slamming the lawmaker's plan and others expressing hearty approval.

"The families of over 600,000 people who died from COVID don't think it's a farce," one tweet said in response Paul's announcement.

"Weird, my definition of peace is not having anyone in my family contract a deadly virus because some conservative virtue signaler was too afraid of what people would think if he wore a small piece of fabric to cover up his blowholes," another tweet declared.

But in addition to the critics, some were fully on board with Paul's plan to pushback against mandatory mask-wearing aboard aircraft.

"Thank you! Yes, the madness needs to end!," a tweet said.

"Thank you Senator Rand Paul! Enough IS Enough!!" another account tweeted.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, less than half of the total U.S. population has been fully vaccinated (47.7%) while a bit more than half of the total population (55.2%) has received at least one vaccine dose.

Those statistics are much higher when it comes to the individuals ages 65 and older, as 78.8% of the population within that age bracket has been fully vaccinated while 88.5% of the population within that age range has received at least one dose.

While the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines each involve receiving two shots, the Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccine involves receiving just one shot.

There have been more than 33 million COVID-19 cases and more than 606,000 COVID-19 deaths so far in the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Horowitz: New study shows mask-wearing children at risk for ‘unacceptable’ CO2 levels, cautions against the practice



We've spent over a year debating nonexistent evidence that masks effectively protect against the spread of viruses. However, there has been little debate and few published studies on potential harms of mask-wearing, a reality that has allowed zealous maskers to aggressively push their mandate as harmless, with no downside. Well, now we have a randomized controlled trial published in JAMA that raises serious concerns about this practice.

Researchers from Germany conducted a blinded randomized controlled trial of 45 children wearing masks and measured the baseline carbon dioxide levels during inhalation and exhalation behind various masks as compared to the levels of unmasked children. The results are very concerning:

We measured means (SDs) between 13 120 (384) and 13 910 (374) ppm of carbon dioxide in inhaled air under surgical and filtering facepiece 2 (FFP2) masks, which is higher than what is already deemed unacceptable by the German Federal Environmental Office by a factor of 6. This was a value reached after 3 minutes of measurement. Children under normal conditions in schools wear such masks for a mean of 270 (interquartile range, 120-390) minutes. The Figure shows that the value of the child with the lowest carbon dioxide level was 3-fold greater than the limit of 0.2 % by volume. The youngest children had the highest values, with one 7-year-old child's carbon dioxide level measured at 25 000 ppm. (Emphasis added.)

Why has nobody in our government bothered to study this before experimenting on children for a virus that doesn't affect them?

The German researchers conclude that there is a concern of mask-wearing causing hypercapnia, and as such, children should not be forced to wear masks: "This leads in turn to impairments attributable to hypercapnia. A recent review concluded that there was ample evidence for adverse effects of wearing such masks. We suggest that decision-makers weigh the hard evidence produced by these experimental measurements accordingly, which suggest that children should not be forced to wear face masks."

While it might seem like the mask mandates are over, they are still largely in place in many workplaces, including an impervious mandate for health care workers who often work 10-hour shifts. The mandate is still in place for 2-year-olds on six-hour flights. The facts that the only RCT studying carbon dioxide effects shows reason for concern, that the only RCT on mask efficacy shows no evidence of meaningful effectiveness, and that children rarely get sick from this virus make the continued mask mandates senseless.

The public health fascists are already attempting to mischaracterize COVID variants in order to reinstitute masking, a trend that has already started in California. CNN had a doctor on the air this week suggesting that masks need to be a part of a new dress code.

Potential carbon dioxide poisoning is but one side effect that needs to be studied. Last month, a group of Alachua County, Florida, parents had their children's masks cultured in a lab and found dangerous pathogens growing on them. Where are the studies on microbiological harms?

The findings of this survey support what we already know to exist in terms of side effects from mask-wearing. A published survey of over 25,000 parents of German schoolchildren found that 68% reported impairments caused by masks. The impairments included: "irritability (60%), headache (53%), difficulty concentrating (50%), less happiness (49%), reluctance to go to school/kindergarten (44%), malaise (42%), impaired learning (38%), and drowsiness or fatigue (37%)."

Until now, one could have dismissed this as unscientific hearsay. However, with this degree of carbon dioxide increase from just a few minutes of mask-wearing, it makes sense that so many children would feel lethargy and malaise after an entire school day.

Masks increase the volume of dead space, which facilitates carbon dioxide retention, according Megan Mansell, a hazardous environs PPE expert. "An area covered in the study is dead space increase, where not only is there an accumulation of rejected respiratory emissions, but a pathogenic concentration of rejected bodily waste and pathogen picked up from pulling airborne microbes, in addition to periodontal bacterial contributions, which thrive in low-oxygen, warm, moist areas," warned Mansell, who recently spoke against the mask mandate at an Alachua County School Board meeting.

Many parents likely ignored the concerns about mask-wearing and carbon dioxide poisoning because they didn't see their kids faint or any immediate severe effects. But Mansell, who is a former district education director for children with disabilities and special needs, believes that there are potential long-term impacts every moment a child's breathing is restricted by masks.

"Deoxygenation and hypercapnia can have permanent impacts on human growth and development, and we can anticipate profoundly incapacitating conditions such as cerebral palsy, in addition to far lower birth rates, as stillbirth rates have increased fourfold in mandating regions," asserted the PPE expert and child advocate. "This has an impact on all lives, even the unborn."

The obvious question is why would there be any difference for adults if the implication of this study is that masks increase carbon dioxide levels across the board? The concerns definitely apply to everyone, but Mansell contends the mask mandates are especially dangerous for children. "Child masks are unregulated garbage with no efficacy or safety standards, and no two are alike, so while one child may breathe freely and have no visible signs of distress, another child could have a similar-looking but far more restrictive apparatus on, and no one would be any the wiser."

Ultimately, this comes down to medical consent. We are just beginning to learn about the corners cut in the development of the vaccines and the side effects the public was not warned about. However, when it comes to masks, until now, nobody has bothered to even capture the reported side effects. Have human beings, including children, become the new lab rats for scientific experimentation?

Horowitz: ‘Masks defeated the flu’? 4 reasons that’s absurd beyond belief



It's the lie that won't die and the one that is designed to prevent mask-wearing from being relegated to the ash heap of history. The same experts who last year predicted a "twindemic" of COVID and the flu flooding the hospitals together, completely missing the natural phenomenon of viral interference, are now crediting the lack of flu and other respiratory viruses to mask-wearing. But the disappearance of flu-like illnesses occurred even at times and in places where mask-wearing was uncommon, and its subsequent re-emergence occurred even in places where mask-wearing was still in vogue.

Last week, the local ABC station in Dallas ran a story on the out-of-season spread of RSV in north Texas and of course blamed people not wearing masks. "We've changed our behavior and now nature is giving us the answer," said Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, chief of infectious diseases at Children's Health and professor of pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical Center. "For the people who think masks don't make a difference, I can't think of any better evidence to suggest that masks actually make a huge difference," Kahn said.

This story came on the heels of the Boston Globe running a headline, "The downside of ditching masks: the return of colds, flu" — all the while never presenting a shred of evidence that masks are the source of the changing trends. Dr. Fauci himself predicted that mask-wearing for the flu might become universal. "I think people have gotten used to the fact that wearing masks, clearly, if you look at the data, diminishes respiratory diseases," he said. "We've had practically a non-existent flu season this year merely because people were doing the kinds of public health things that were directed predominantly against COVID-19."

Like most ideas promoted by leftists, the mask theory about the flu sounds good for about one second, but if you allow your brain to think past that political impulse of groupthink, their entire theory falls apart. In fact, it's quite evident that the disappearance of the flu and some other respiratory viruses (but not all) is due to viral interference, a phenomenon completely out of our hands.

Here are four points to consider:

1) How can masks work so spectacularly for the flu and RSV but fail so miserably for COVID? Crediting mask-wearing and not natural viral interference from COVID for the disappearance of other viruses implicitly implicates the belief that masks worked for COVID! Although the endless charts and data prove masks never worked anywhere, theoretically, supporters could hypothesize that it might have been slightly worse at any given time had masks not been worn. However, if they are now crediting a near 100% drop in flu-like illness to mask-wearing, there are no laws of biology and physics that can explain a close to zero effect on COVID. The virions are roughly the same size for both viruses. If anything, there are 10 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) cited by the CDC that already showed masks don't work for the flu. The only question was whether perhaps masks could work for this new virus. And of course, we have our answer from a year of data and the results of the only RCT conducted, showing no statistically meaningful effect.

2) Why did rhinovirus colds continue while coronavirus colds stopped? Rhinoviruses pretty much circulated normally throughout the entire duration of the epidemic.

The same trend was observed for adenoviruses, which seemed to remain pretty level throughout the pandemic:

Contrast that to the CDC surveillance data of the four coronavirus colds, and you will see that they completely disappeared during the normal late fall/winter season.

There is no logical reason why mask-wearing would chase away coronaviruses but not rhinoviruses or adenoviruses. Adenovirus virions are roughly 0.1 microns, the same size as SARS-CoV-2 virions. If anything, the Ro rate of contagion for coronaviruses is much higher than for rhinoviruses. On the other hand, it makes perfect sense that from an immunobiological standpoint, COVID, a form of coronavirus, would interfere with the spread of viruses within the same family.

3) Disappearance of viruses coincided with circulation of COVID, not COVID response. Perhaps the most obvious proof that the disappearance of the viruses like flu, coronavirus colds, and RSV was due to natural viral interference and not mask-wearing is the timing.

As you can see from Bio Fire Syndromatic Trends, the flu, RSV, and coronavirus colds dropped off the face of the earth beginning in late February 2020. Mask-wearing did not become common until April (or May-June in some places), yet these viruses ground to a halt in the late winter/early spring even more than the typical drop we see in March. It coincides perfectly with the timing of the virus, not the mask-wearing.

Fauci today said that masks decrease respiratory diseases & led to a non-existent flu seasonAs I’ve repeatedly sa… https://t.co/dJ60u8i22u

— IM (@ianmSC) 1620588039.0

Likewise, the re-emergence of viruses like RSV, coronavirus colds, and parainfluenza off-season during the spring coincides with COVID cases dropping like a rock, not the lack of mask-wearing. For example, while many southern states ended the mask mandates in the early spring, New York only recently ended it, and most people still wear masks indoors in the northeast. Yet the CDC's data on RSV show the resurgence beginning early in the year – exactly when COVID started to decline.

Similarly, the CDC's data for coronaviruses in the northeast (heavily masked) show those colds making a comeback long before the mask mandates were lifted.

4) Flu disappeared in countries and regions that did not have widespread masking. Nearly every country experienced the natural circulation of COVID, but not all of them wore masks. Sweden was notorious for thumbing its nose at the mask fad, yet the flu and RSV completely disappeared. Then RSV reappeared when the virus declined:

And who can ignore Japan? The Japanese are notorious for disciplined mask-wearing during the flu season, yet there is no evidence the practice ever made a dent until this year's circulation of COVID, a very aggressive and durable pandemic.

Japan masks every year, and pushed masks hard in 2019 with no apparent effect. But in 2020-21 flu disappeared with… https://t.co/u5CkLdpLsu

— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) 1621008715.0

Indeed, when our public health officials follow political science rather than life science, anything is possible. As it relates to masks, they can only get the credit for any positive trend, but not the blame of any case increase.

Woman makes headlines after announcing that her husband refuses to unmask — even for sexual relations



A lonely woman says that her husband of more than five years refuses to take off his mask — ever ... even during sex — though the two are monogamous and are both fully vaccinated.

The woman, who refers to herself as "Maskless and Alone," wrote into Slate's "Dear Prudence" and detailed her husband's extreme fear and paranoia surrounding surrendering his mask.

Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that it was safe for fully vaccinated Americans to ditch the masks even while in the majority of public settings.

'He wears it to sleep,' for 'bathroom activities,' and 'even during lovemaking'

Maskless and Alone wrote, "I have been married to a great guy for five and a half years. He is handsome, sexy, funny, and kind. It's true that he has always been a little 'prissy' about illnesses, but I never thought it was a real problem."

The woman said that during the pandemic, her husband's fears hit a fevered pitch and since COVID-19's emergence in the U.S., he has flat-out refused to take off his face mask — even when the two are home alone.

"He wears it to sleep, to do most of his bathroom activities, and, yes, even during lovemaking," she complained. "To eat, he pulls it up to expose his mouth, and then quickly pulls it back down between bites. While he does not insist that I do the same, I can tell it bothers him that I don't — especially because I have now started going maskless outside, per the CDC guidelines, and plan on restaurant dining inside soon for a girls' night out."

The woman says that she's attempted to reason with her husband, but he balks every time, saying, "Scientists don't fully understand the virus yet," and more, "What's the harm?"

According to the woman, there's a whole lot of harm being done.

"I want to see my beautiful husband's face again," she wrote. "I want to kiss him on the lips romantically, like we used to, and not through a piece of fabric."

The woman said that her husband doesn't often change his mask and it has become "smelly and soiled."

"This is making me depressed and concerned about our future together," she admitted. "I have asked him when he plans to stop masking, and all he says is 'When it is safe for everyone.' What if this becomes a permanent part of him? My mother, who is very conservative, thinks that I should move out. But I don't think I'm ready for that step yet. What I want is my husband back."

'Certainly not offering him any real protection against disease'

In a lengthy response, Slate's own Dear Prudence pointed out what appears to be the man's deteriorating mental condition and called his behavior "alarming."

"'What's the harm?' is such an insidious phrase," Prudence wrote. "It's not a question; it's a statement of 'leave me alone.' But there is lots of harm in leaving him alone — harm to his mental health, to yours, and to your relationship."

Prudence recommended that the two sit down and have a heart-to-heart talk over his decision to continue wearing masks nearly 100% of the time.

"Tell him all about the harm here: His behavior is alienating you and is certainly not offering him any real protection against disease," Prudence advised. "Give him three options. First, he can make an appointment with his physician to talk about effective protective measures. If he does this, he has to commit to following the doctor's recommendations, and you have to be present so he can't lie to you about what happens there. Hopefully, his doctor will say he has to do option No. 2: start seeing a therapist. If he chooses this, he has to commit to at least six sessions (or some other number that feels right to you)."

Prudence said that the third option is considering leaving him.

"Finally, he can decide — because it would be his decision if he doesn't take another action — to call an end to the relationship," Prudence advised. "I know you want your husband back, but he isn't that husband right now, and he needs to understand just how serious this is. To be clear, you have to mean it when you say that the relationship has to end if he doesn't make progress, but I think that would be the right move."

Anything else to know?

In June, a study from Harvard University found that people engaging in sexual relations ought to consider wearing face masks for the purpose of preventing COVID-19 transmission.

According to the study, the riskiest sexual scenario at the time was sex with people other than those with whom a person is quarantined.

Other high-risk behaviors, the report found, included having sex with someone outside your household, and even sometimes sex with someone inside your household, depending on who they may have previously interfaced.

The best option, according to researchers, was abstinence since it was the lowest risk for infection.

The study's authors wrote: "SARS-CoV-2 is present in respiratory secretions and spreads through aerosolized particles. It may remain stable on surfaces for days. On the basis of this information, all types of in-person sexual activity probably carry risk for SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Infected individuals have the potential to spread respiratory secretions onto their skin and personal objects, from which the virus can be transmitted to a sexual partner. Because many SARS-CoV-2–infected people are asymptomatic, HCPs are left with little to offer beyond guidance to not engage in any in-person sexual activity."