You'd be forgiven if in late February 2024, you'd assumed that the media would have finally given up on pushing for the public to wear masks. Especially after years of scientific evidence and data have confirmed that masks don't work.
But that would require them to admit, while moving on from the failed policy championed ad nauseum by their political allies, that they were wrong.
Rolling Stone has an issue out this week, yes literally this week, which includes a new article designed to educate and instruct its readers not on the fact that it's OK to put their ineffective masks away, but rather on which version of an N95 mask they should be wearing each day. It's…well, it's somehow even worse than it sounds.
"THOUGH MASK RESTRICTIONS have eased across the country (and around the world)," it begins, "officials say you shouldn’t be taking off your masks just yet, especially if you’re in crowded places or traveling."
Ah yes, again with the unnamed "officials," those whose opinions and values who should be held in higher regard than reason, common sense, and evidence, because they are "officials." Never mind that those same "officials" initially told the public - with a straight face - that they could use a rolled up t-shirt as a "face covering." They then revised their directive when they suggested the public instead wear a cloth mask. But what’s even more effective than one? Two cloth masks. Better yet, we should wear surgical masks, which was THEN followed by the mask pinnacle: an N95. Each time they were becoming progressively more aggressive as their previous mandates and recommendations were consistently shown to have spectacularly failed.
That's the very same authority to which Rolling Stone is appealing to, with no sense of awareness or shame. Just blind religious faith in failed politically-aligned institutions.
Even The Vaccines And Boosters Can't Save You From Masks
The Rolling Stone article continues with a dire warning: even your vaccines and boosters aren't enough to save you now.
"Even if you have received your vaccine and booster, medical experts continue to promote the wearing of face coverings as an effective way to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the new JN.1 variant, measles, and other potentially harmful viruses in the air"
This was the inevitable conclusion of the great COVID mask panic - goalpost moving from "just wear one for a few weeks to stop the virus" to "wear one forever to stop measles and other potentially harmful viruses in the air." There is no evidence that masks stop measles transmission, nor any respiratory virus for that matter. Masks do not stop airborne viruses, and, whaddya know, the measles, flu and COVID are transmitted through airborne aerosols.
This advice by unnamed "medical experts” who still recommend that people, many of whom long ago learned the truth about mask effectiveness, continue to wear face coverings to stop transmission of viruses they cannot stop, could quite literally put at-risk individuals at a greater risk of harm. By misleading them into believing they're protected when they're not, immunocompromised people like Taylor Lorenz may engage in riskier behavior than they otherwise should. Although when you're dealing with a media that writes an advice column on how to avoid an unavoidable endemic respiratory virus, expecting logical consistency is a bridge that's way, way too far.
And they weren't done with the harmful misinformation yet.
Misinformation Media At It Again
The article continues by inaccurately stating that "Covid infections" are "rising again."
"And while airlines and the FAA have removed guidelines mandating the wearing of face masks in-flight, many travelers are still keeping their masks on when sharing air with hundreds of passengers for hours at a time. With Covid infections rising again, some states have also started debating recommending masks again, especially for indoor dining and entertainment."
Except, of course, all the available data shows the exact opposite. Hospitalizations in the United States have fallen substantially from an already small winter peak. And that's a lagging indicator, meaning infections had started falling nearly two months before the article was written.
Outstanding work, as always, by our fearless media in informing the public.
Beyond obvious factual mistakes though, the article attempts to quote additional "experts" extolling the supposed advantages of N95 masks over the cloth and surgical masks they previously recommended and mandated.
"N95 fit offers advantages over a loose-fitting surgical mask by eliminating leakage around the mask," a report quoted by Rolling Stone claims.
Except that's not actually true.
Only fit tested N95 masks eliminate leakage, and not even always then if not used properly. N95 masks purchased for $1 at the grocery store have no fit advantages over any other type of mask, which is why the available high quality reviews repeatedly show that there's no evidence N95's are more effective at reducing transmission of respiratory viruses.
Not to mention the fact that countries such as Austria and Germany tried mandating N95 level masks during the pandemic, only to see them prove completely ineffective.
Masks Don't Work
Masks don't work. There is not one piece of available data that shows masks are effective at stopping the spread of respiratory viruses. Not one.
The "experts" were wrong, yet the media ate it up because it fulfilled their need to be viewed as morally superior to their political opponents. They've spread misinformation, and often purposeful disinformation, at the behest of their partners; those same unnamed "officials" Rolling Stone appeals to.
They've caused incalculable damage to society and to the public, leading to permanent, life-altering changes for millions of people around the world. They can't even get basic, inarguable facts down correctly. And it appears they're never going to apologize or correct their misleading proclaimations.
"Masks don't work. There is not one piece of available data that shows masks are effective at stopping the spread of respiratory viruses. Not one."
If memory serves, the C-19 virus is roughly 2 microns in diameter. The N-95 mask gets its name from blocking 95% of particles larger than 5 microns.
What portion of 2 micron particles will it block? Certainly less than all, and perhaps not more than some. Maskaholics won't say.
How many C-19 virions does it take to cause an infection? Maskaholics won't say.
If C-19 is transmitted via aerosolized particles, then N-95 masks cannot work, full stop. No studies required, any more than to conclude that Thompson submachine guns are not particularly effective against mosquitos: the ability to grasp the glaringly obvious is sufficient.
"By misleading them into believing they're protected when they're not, immunocompromised people like Taylor Lorenz may engage in riskier behavior than they otherwise should."
This needs to be hit harder. Any claim of effectiveness greater than reality by definition would cause mask wearers to expose themselves to more risk than they knew, and more public activities than they would otherwise choose.
Yet our public health geniuses couldn't figure out this perverse consequence for themselves.
(When I first read that quote, I scanned "immunocompromised" as "intellectcompromised." I know, I am a bad man.)
You will notice, though, that the mainstream media is now hemorrhaging writers and staff. Maybe lying about masks, and literally everything else in the world, is finally catching up to them.