Columnist: Mask cultists have gotten everything they wanted

FPI / December 10, 2020

In Maryland, not wearing a mask is punishable by up to a year in jail and up to a $5,000 fine. Maryland has the highest mask compliance in the nation at 96.96 percent, according to Carnegie Mellon survey data.

A statewide mask mandate has been in place since April. A more strict mask mandate was instituted in July. Coronavirus cases are surging in Maryland, with record hospitalizations reported on Dec. 9.

"In nearly every state and certainly every major city, we have seen the most dramatic social change of our lifetime with people walking around like mummies and bandits," Daniel Horowtiz noted in a Dec. 9 op-ed for The Blaze. "I have not seen a single human being indoors in any store or institution in my state of Maryland without a mask since April. According to Carnegie Mellon's survey, there is 97% compliance statewide, yet it has not slowed the fall wave of coronavirus spread one iota."

Masks are so effective against covid "that they work even when they don't," Horowitz noted. "You see, most non-pharmaceutical interventions are either effective or ineffective against this virus and can be judged based on the results. But when it comes to the unassailable majestic masks, they work so well that even when they don't work, they create more need to wear them."

On June 24, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak said, "When at least 80% of a population adopts universal masking, it results in a substantial reduction of infection." According to Carnegie Mellon survey data, there is 93 percent mask compliance statewide in Nevada, and 95 percent in Las Vegas.

Since the mask mandate was put in place, reported coronavirus cases in Nevada have increased by 540 percent.

Florida had a covid wave in the summer, "so there was more immune resistance among the population to the heavy fall wave of the virus," Horowitz noted. "Whereas precisely because California had relatively few cases until recently, it is getting hit with a rapid transmission. But that is the broader point. This is all about regional seasonality and built-up immunity – 100% natural phenomena. The 'virus is gonna virus' regardless of what we do. We can throw cloths on our faces as medieval superstitious sacraments to the gods of the masks, but that won't change the fact that the virus has its own natural trajectory."

In California, "officials are doubling down on blaming people for not being compliant," Horowitz noted. "But have you ever seen anyone in L.A. without a mask? According to Carnegie Mellon's daily tracking surveys through social media, 95% of people in California report wearing masks. That average includes the rural areas, so it's likely that in places like L.A. the compliance is closer to 100%. For people who would be most responsible for spread — those working indoors for hours at a time — there is almost no establishment that would allow the individual to work without a mask. It simply doesn't exist."

The virus is spreading in California "exponentially more than it did in March when nobody was wearing a mask," Horowitz continued. "Does this mean masks are responsible for the spread? Not necessarily. It likely means now is a time for the virus to spread. It's all natural. But masks are not helping. However, they continue to accept the advice of Dr. Fauci to double down on a policy that has <em>already</em> failed to stop the sharpest spread."

Horowitz concluded: "The compliance for something this draconian is actually astounding. The mask cultists have gotten everything they wanted. And like everything made in China, the masks are not working. Now it's time for them to own the results."

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