Mask mandate in Seattle finally repealed today. Still, half of people are wearing masks.

Wouldn't be a rule to wear one unlike before. Freedom of choice. I know it might be hard for you to understand that.

FREEDOM!

What happened to the "my body, my choice" stance of the mask mandate opposition?

To determine risk, should we listen to government officials, or health officials, or conspiracy theorists?

As of today, the new case rate in the USA is still about 30,000 cases per day -- which was the initial peak in April 2020, and the death rate is about 1000, or half of April 2020. In April 2020, these high values were the trigger to start wearing masks, and practice social distancing, and now they are seen as low enough to end the protective mandates.

The evidence is firmly in favour of masks not working. These people are as clueless as those who believe the vaccine decreases the transmission of the virus.

Evidence has always been pretty prolific for "source control" effectiveness.

"The preponderance of evidence indicates that mask wearing reduces transmissibility per contact by reducing transmission of infected respiratory particles in both laboratory and clinical contexts. Public mask wearing is most effective at reducing spread of the virus when compliance is high."

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2014564118

theconversation.com

Evidence shows that, yes, masks prevent COVID-19 – and surgical masks are the way to go

Laura (Layla) H. Kwong

Since the coronavirus first began spreading around the globe, people have debated how effective masks are at preventing COVID-19. A year and a half in, what does the evidence show?

Open link

Is "the vaccine (doesn't) decrease the transmission of the virus" the latest conspiracy angle of the anti-vaxxers? While "delta" and "omicron" variants broke through, population data from many countries clearly shows that the vaccine protects the vaccinated against severe symptoms and death, when controlled and normalized comparisons with the unvaccinated are performed.

At this point we can only hope that the unvaccinated by choice have been sufficiently exposed to Omicron so that we have reached the threshold goal of herd immunity, despite the best efforts of anti-vaxxers and right wing politicians to interfere with public health.

Removing the mask mandate may be the fastest way now to infect larger numbers of the unvaccinated by choice, while the vaccinated are better protected against severe effects.

I wear a mask to trigger the snowflakes like yourself

Do you stay 6 feet away from perfectly healthy people too?

From mask to hazmat suit? Really? Oh yeah, wearing a mask does bother you.

How do you know anyone is perfectly healthy?

They are not sneezing or coughing.

On the other hand, we can be afraid of everyone we encounter. I won't do that...you can

Why in the hell if someone else is wearing a mask should it bother you? They are protecting you from getting Covid19 or any other airborne virus from them.

The level of ignorance of Americans is astounding.

Do you get upset when someone wipes down the equipment after using it, so that the next person doesn't touch perspiration and germs from the previous person?

Even the official narrative no longer claims the masks protect anyone but the wearer.

You are spouting the old lies and need to catch up to the new ones

I read the first link you shared and it was completely worthless. It didn't show any statistics proving that mask mandates reduced the spread of the virus. The very fact that you post nonsense like this shows you lack critical thinking:

"The preponderance of evidence indicates that mask wearing reduces transmissibility per contact by reducing transmission of infected respiratory particles in both laboratory and clinical contexts"

You do realise that literally says laboratory and clinical contexts. This has nothing to do with real world application.

Much more relevant are real world studies such as last summer when England dropped their mask mandate and Scotland did not (also Scotland maintained a few other restrictions). By your logic, it's unquestionable that England would have higher covid rates than Scotland during this period, right? Well no, actually you'd be dead wrong. It was the reverse. This is actual proof that masks don't work in a wider setting.

If this isn't proof enough for you, then look at the various studies of school enforcing mask mandates compared to those that didn't. You'll find the exact same conclusion. Here is one such study:

eu.lansingstatejournal.com

Comparing COVID-19 cases at schools with and without mask mandates

@LSJnews

Here’s how case rates compared in 20 mid-Michigan school districts with and without mask mandates.

Open link

I won't bother reading what you've said about vaccines, since what you've said about masks has been a waste of time. No reasonable person believes the vaccine is stopping transmission. Omicron has made a joke out of that argument.

In all this time, I'm honestly surprised we never really saw people don hazmat suits. Missed opportunity.

I am in a state where the mask mandate was lifted a couple of weeks ago. I am very normal and healthy person but I still feel most comfortable wearing my mask when in public indoor places, even though I'm now in the minority as about 75% do not wear masks in public anymore.

I feel that it has probably helped me stave off a few colds over the last two years and what does it matter. It is my choice and I choose to wear a mask (just like a choose to wear a baseball hat).

Yesterday, when at the grocery store, I walked by an unmasked older man who was shopping with his mother. I hear him say "sheeple" somewhat quietly in my direction. I turned to look at him and his mother states "don't embarrass me" in which he responds to his mother "I just can't help it."

I continue my stare at him as he walks away saying "sheeple, sheeple, sheeple."

Now, I'm not sure what this man's objective is, but a couple things stood out to me:

#1 - How am I in any way bothering this man or his mother that he has to engage me? What does he really care?

#2 - This man doesn't know my health history or anything about me really. How does he know I don't have HIV or cancer and am very immuno-compromised and am literally trying to stay alive? He makes a lot of presumptions.

#3 - I thought the word "sheeple" meant going along with the public opinion, in which now I am in the minority wearing my mask, so therefore I'm not a "sheeple."

#4 - What is wrong with our society that people feel it is ok to verbally express negative comments to random strangers in public places? "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." Is that no longer a thing?

I really worry about the increased angst in our society. For the most part, I just want to live my life and do my thing. I could care less what others say behind my back but now I need to worry about what others say to my face? Something is wrong with that.....

Guessing you're probably a republican who self-identifies as a centrist or libertarian or something

I wonder how little is going on in someone's life that they care about other people wearing masks. Tell me, in a clinical setting 5 years ago if you saw a doctor, nurse or dentist wearing a mask, did you have a similar mental breakdown? Logically you should have if they achieve nothing.

I could careless if people wear a mask. I'm really against the mask mandates.