Tag: face masks

Walz administration threatened voters for not masking up; critics tear apart new mask study

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris picked a running mate, Tim Walz, known for severe COVID-19 restrictions as Minnesota’s governor, including a hotline on which residents could report each other for violating his stay-at-home executive order.

Walz’s administration threatened the medical license of his 2022 Republican challenger, Scott Jensen, who won Minnesota’s Family Physician of the Year award in 2016, for COVID wrongthink. Two of its five investigations were opened after Jensen entered the race.

But it’s Walz’s crusade for masking, which he called  “one of the last” COVID mandates he would lift in fall 2020 and was upheld as constitutional a year ago, that could make swing voters more wary of a Democratic ticket that, unlike the GOP ticket, might bring mandates back.

When Minnesota Republicans sued to block Walz’s mask mandate at polling places ahead of the 2020 primary, Secretary of State Steve Simon told the Star Tribune that he would direct officials to record the names of voters who refused to accept masks “and let them know they will be reported to authorities” if they vote inside without a “health reason.”

Germany is still using a similar tack to protect masking from scrutiny.

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Cafe owners WIN legal battle over Covid-19 mask charges

After a drawn-out legal struggle, Shellharbour cafe owners Anthony and Natalie Reale have triumphed in court, seeing charges related to Covid-19 mask mandates dismissed.

The Reales, owners of Village Fix cafe, faced legal action for allegedly not wearing face masks and failing to ensure their staff did so during the height of Australia’s Covid-19 lockdown madness in June 2021. They were arrested and charged, prompting a three-year legal battle.

Their lawyer, Manny, shared the details:

“We presented medical evidence early on showing that both Anthony and Natalie had conditions exempting them from mask mandates. Despite this, police ignored our representations, leading to prolonged court proceedings,” he said.

“The mask charge against Natalie was dismissed, and although she was found guilty of not ensuring her staff wore masks, no conviction was recorded,” Manny explained. Anthony’s charge of not wearing a mask was also dismissed.

Reflecting on the ordeal, Anthony said the couple were relieved the ordeal was finally over.

“The process was prolonged, but it worked in our favour as more information about the situation came to light. Our faith in the judicial system has been reinforced,” he said.

However, Natalie stressed the ordeal greatly affected the cafe, with the couple’s business suffering significantly due to the negative mainstream media attention, forcing them to relocate.

“We were thriving before, but the negative media portrayal and the legal battle took a toll,” Natalie noted.

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Scientific American’s Laura Helmuth Continues Campaign to Embarrass and Humiliate Herself

As we head into the weekend, a quick note that Scientific American’s Laura Helmuth remains one of the most ridiculous dunderheads in science writing, a journalism adjacent field of writing that many reporters refer to with derision as “scicomm.” Earlier this week, a reader sent me this post on Blue Sky, with Helmuth promoting an article falsely claiming there was evidence to support six-feet social distancing during COVID.

There isn’t. Former NIH Director Francis Collins and Tony Fauci have both testified to Congress that this evidence doesn’t exist.

Helmuth shoehorns this narrative into Scientific American by ignoring Tony Fauci’s congressional testimony that six feet social distancing was “an empiric decision that wasn’t based on data” and then insisting it’s actually just a political fight between Fauci and Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican Congresswoman long known for making outlandish statements that often stretch the fabric of reality.

Just like Laura Helmuth.

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REVEALED: Dr. Anthony Fauci confesses he ‘made up’ covid rules including 6 feet social distancing and masking kids

Bombshell testimony from Dr. Anthony Fauci reveals he made up the six foot social distancing rule and other measures to ‘protect’ Americans from covid.

Republicans put out the full transcript of their sit down interview with Fauci from January just days before his highly-anticipated public testimony on Monday. 

They plan to grill him about covid restrictions he put in place, that he admitted didn’t do much to ‘slow the spread’ of the virus. 

Kids’ learning loss and social setbacks have been well documented, with one National Institute of Health (NIH) study calling the impact of mask use on students’ literacy and learning was ‘very negative.’

And the impacts from social distancing caused ‘depression, generalized anxiety, acute stress, and intrusive thoughts,’ another NIH study found. 

Speaking to counsel on behalf of the committee earlier this year, Fauci told Republicans that the six foot social distancing rule ‘sort of just appeared’ and that he did not recall how it came about. 

‘You know, I don’t recall. It sort of just appeared,’ he said according to committee transcripts when pressed on how the rule came about. 

He added he ‘was not aware of studies’ that supported the social distancing, conceding that such studies ‘would be very difficult’ to do. 

In addition to not recalling any evidence supporting social distancing, Fauci also told the committee’s counsel that he didn’t remember reading anything to support that masking kids would prevent COVID.

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CDC’s Own Scientists Found Masks Ineffective for COVID — But Agency Recommended Them Anyway.

According to an investigation by independent journalist Paul D. Thacker published this week in the Disinformation Chronicle,, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention openly questioned the findings of its own scientists’ studies contradicting the agency’s public messaging about mask effectiveness.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) own scientists conducted studies showing N95 respirators are no more effective at stopping viruses than surgical masks — yet the agency issued guidance contradicting those and other studies showing both types of masks are ineffective at stopping the spread of COVID-19, according to an investigation by independent journalist Paul D. Thacker.

The investigation, published this week in two parts on The Disinformation Chronicle, details how CDC leadership openly questioned the findings of CDC scientists’ studies contradicting the agency’s public messaging about mask effectiveness.

During the pandemic, mask advocates “shifted goalposts and demanded N95 respirators,” Thacker said, claiming they perform better than surgical masks at stopping the virus.

However, Thacker said CDC scientists found no difference between N95 and surgical masks in the ability to stop the spread of respiratory viruses. The findings of the CDC studies are consistent with other peer-reviewed studies on the efficacy of masks in preventing COVID-19, according to Thacker.

“But the CDC responded by saying people can’t say that,” Thacker told The Defender.

To shut down the controversy, the CDC, in its Jan. 23 post on preventing the transmission of pathogens in healthcare settings, warned researchers that to suggest facemasks and respirators are the same “is not scientifically correct,” Thacker wrote.

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No proof face masks ever worked against Covid, claims UKHSA boss who warns they may have even had OPPOSITE effect on spread through ‘false sense of security’


There is no solid proof masks ever slowed the spread of Covid, England’s former deputy chief medical officer said today.

Professor Dame Jenny Harries, who now heads up the UK Health Security Agency, said the evidence that coverings reduced transmission is ‘uncertain’ because it is difficult to separate their effect from other Covid curbs.

She also told the UK’s Covid inquiry that government advice on how to make a mask using two pieces of cloth was ‘ineffective’.

Studies showed at least three were needed for even a small effect on the spread of viruses, Dame Jenny said. 

Meanwhile, she warned advice for the public to wear masks during the pandemic may even have given people a ‘false sense of security’ that they could reduce their risk of becoming infected if they wore one while mixing with others.

Dame Jenny wrote in her witness statement that the evidence base for using face masks in the community ‘was, and still is to some degree, uncertain’. 

She noted that the evidence for mask wearing varied depending on what materials it was made from. For example, a ‘one or two layer cloth covering’ is ‘not particularly effective’, she said.

And if someone doesn’t wear it properly – fully covering the mouth and nose – ‘it won’t work’, Dame Jenny added.

The inquiry was shown guidance on how people can make their own face masks from the first wave of the pandemic.

In response to the proposals in May 2020, Dame Jenny wrote that advice to use one or two pieces of fabric was ‘ineffective’.

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Masks required in certain settings again in California

Beginning on Wednesday, lots of people heading into doctor’s offices or hospitals across the Bay Area will be required to mask up.

In some parts of California, masks will be required in hospitals and skilled nursing facilities in an effort to limit the spread of RSV, the flu and COVID. The mandate will last until the end of flu season in March.

Marin County and Santa Clara counties require everyone who enters medical facilities to mask up.  Alameda, San Mateo, Contra Costa, and Sonoma counties will require health care workers to mask up in patient care areas. 

In California, COVID positivity rates were on the rise starting in July, and peaked in late August. According to the Mercury News, wastewater data shows medium levels of COVID in all of Santa Clara County’s sewer sheds at the end of October, down from high transmission range over the last two months.

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong told KTVU medical professional don’t know what is going to happen during this flu season, so they’re opting to take a precautious approach. 

Though, not everyone in the health care industry agrees. 

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“That Simply Doesn’t Make Sense”: Lead Author Of Cochrane Mask Review Responds To Fauci’s Dismissal Of Evidence

Former chief medical advisor to the US President Anthony Fauci was questioned over the weekend by CNN reporter Michael Smerconish, about face masks being able to curb the spread of covid-19.

“There’s no doubt that masks work,” said Fauci.

“Different studies give different percentages of advantage of wearing it, but there’s no doubt that the weight of the studies … indicate the benefit of wearing masks,” he added.

Smerconish brought up the 2023 Cochrane review which found no evidence that physical interventions like face masks could stop viral transmission in the community and cited my interview with lead author of the study Tom Jefferson who confirmed, “There is just no evidence that they [masks] make any difference. Full stop.”

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These Schools Across the US Have Brought Back Mask Mandates

Amid a small increase in COVID-19 hospital admissions in recent days, a handful of schools and colleges across the United States have re-imposed mask mandates—or at least started recommending them.

In the most recent example, a school in Montgomery County, Maryland, announced it would mandate masking for at least 10 days after three students tested positive for the virus in one classroom. The masking rule applies to students, teachers, and other staff in the classroom, it said.

A letter posted by the  Rosemary Hills School online said that KN95 masks have been distributed to students and teachers in the classroom. At-home rapid testing kits were also sent home.

“Additional KN95 masks have been distributed and students and staff in identified classes or activities will be required to mask while in school for the next 10 days, except while eating or drinking,” Principal Rebecca Irwin Kennedy said in a letter, dated Sept. 5.

The re-imposition of mandates is being done “to keep our school environment as safe as possible for in-person teaching and learning, and to prevent further transmission of COVID-19 in this group,” she continued.

The Montgomery County school district policy says that masks are optional, with some exceptions, according to a message viewed by local station WTOP-TV. The district said that in certain instances, “masks may be recommended or required.”

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Masks don’t work against COVID-19 and Dr. Fauci should use one to gag himself

First, Anthony Fauci pokes his head up to claim, against all evidence, that masks do stop COVID-19 after all. 

Then, right on cue, the White House announces that Fauci’s No. 1 fan, President Biden, will be “masking indoors” after the double-vaccinated, twice-boosted first lady contracted the virus for the third time in 13 months. 

Then Whoopi Goldberg, who once declared she was “boosted within an inch of your life,” goes missing from “The View” with her third bout of COVID. 

“As you can see, Whoopi is not here,” co-host Joy Behar said Tuesday.

“She has COVID. It’s back! It’s back!” 

Co-host Ana Navarro exclaimed to the live audience: “Clap if you had your third booster!” 

The ladies were fairly giddy with excitement over the imminent return of the “plague.” 

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