Masques

The Situation Room by Nancy Ohanian

Yesterday Bruce Springsteen blasted the so-called leaders who refuse to wear masks in public, particularly Señor Trumpanzee. He used his Sirius XM radio show, From My Home to Yours, to make it clear what he think of calculating politicians who refuse to wear masks. Strumming a guitar, he said "With 100,000-plus Americans dying over the last few months and the empty, shamed response from our leaders, I'm simply pissed off. Those lives deserve better than just being inconvenient statistics for our president's re-election efforts. It's a national disgrace... We will be contemplating on our current circumstances with the coronavirus and the cost that it has drawn from our nation. We will be calculating what we've lost, sending prayers for the deceased and the families they've left behind... I'm going to start out with sending one to the man sitting behind the Resolute Desk. With all respect, sir, show some consideration for your countrymen and your country. Put on a fucking mask." He then played Trump Bob Dylan's "The Disease of Conceit."





Also yesterday Trump Regime press secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced that from here on masks, though recommended, are no long required for White House staff, a big mistake according to the results of a study in Health Affairs. In their abstract, they noted that "there is now substantial evidence of asymptomatic transmission of COVID-19" and that "mask wearing by infected individuals can reduce transmission risk, and because of the high proportion of asymptomatic infected individuals and transmissions, there appears to be a strong case for the effectiveness of widespread use of face masks in reducing the spread of COVID-19."

In the US, public health authorities did not recommend widespread facial mask use in public at the start of the pandemic. The initially limited evidence on asymptomatic transmission and concern about mask shortages for health care workforce and individuals caring for patients contributed to that initial decision. On April 3, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new guidance advising all individuals to wear cloth facial covers in public areas where close contact with others is unavoidable, citing new evidence on virus transmission from asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic individuals. Guidelines differ between countries, and some including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, China, and South Korea have mandated use of face masks in public.

This study adds complementary evidence to the literature on impacts of widespread community use of face masks on COVID-19 spread from a natural experiment based on whether states in the US have mandated the use of face masks in public for COVID-19 mitigation or not. Specifically, we identify the effects of mandating face mask use in public on daily COVID-19 growth rates based on differences in the timing and issuance of state mandates.

In the US, 15 states plus DC have issued mandates for face mask use in public between April 8 and May 15. We examine the effects of state mandates for use of face masks in public on the daily COVID-19 growth rate using an event study that examines the effects over different periods. We also consider the impact of mandates for mask use targeted only to employees in some work settings, as opposed to community-wide mandates. This evidence is critical as states and countries worldwide begin to shift to “reopening” their economies and as foot traffic increases. Mandating public use of masks has become a socially and politically contentious issue, with multiple protests and even acts of violence directed against masked employees and those asking customers to wear face masks. Face cover recommendations and mandates are part of the current set of measures, following earlier social distancing measures such as school and non-essential business closures, bans on large gatherings, and shelter-in-place orders being considered by states and local governments, especially as regions of the country reopen. For example, most recently, Virginia started its phase one reopening on May 22, 2020 and required everyone in the state to wear face masks in public where people congregate. Therefore, it is critical to provide direct evidence on this question not only for public health authorities and governments but also for educating the public.

...There is a significant decline in daily COVID-19 growth rate after mandating facial covers in public, with the effect increasing over time after signing the order... The study provides direct evidence on the effectiveness of widespread community use of face masks from a natural experiment that evaluates effects of state government mandates in the US for face mask use in public on COVID-19 spread... Using an event study that examines daily changes in county-level COVID-19 growth rates, the study finds that mandating public use of face masks is associated with a reduction in the COVID-19 daily growth rate.

...These estimates are not small and represent nearly 16–19% of the effects of other social distancing measures (school closures, bans on large gatherings, shelter-in-place orders, and closures of restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues) after similar periods from their enactment. The estimates suggest increasing effectiveness and benefits from these mandates over time. By May 22, the estimates suggest that as many as 230,000–450,000 COVID-19 cases may have been averted based on when states passed these mandates. Again, the estimates of averted cases should be viewed cautiously as these are sensitive to assumptions and different approaches for transforming the changes in the daily growth rate estimates to cases.

Their conclusion is clear, though I doubt anyone could explain it to Trump. "The study provides evidence that states in the US mandating use of face masks in public had a greater decline in daily COVID-19 growth rates after issuing these mandates compared to states that did not issue mandates. These effects are observed conditional on other existing social distancing measures and are independent of the CDC recommendation to wear facial covers issued on April 3. As countries worldwide and states begin to relax social distancing restrictions and considering the high likelihood of a second COVID-19 wave in the fall/winter, requiring use of face masks in public might help in reducing COVID-19 spread."

Earlier today, the Wall Street Journal published an interview with Señor T by Michael Bender in which, among other assorted nonsense, the worst president in American history claimed many people wear masks as a sign they disapprove of him, rather than to stay healthy or keep people around them healthy. This literally defines what a narcissistic sociopath is.

Still no mask on the damn sociopath

Earlier in the week far right sociopath Tom Rice (R-SC) announced that he, his wife and their son have the "Wuhan Flu," the xenophobic, racist term neo-fascists and fascists use to describe COVID-19. Rice has refused to wear a mask on the House floor and has probably spread it to other Republican members who eschew masks. He represents the very red 7th district of eastern South Carolina, which includes Myrtle Beach and 8 counties. South Carolina-- where social distancing hasn't been taken seriously, is spiking badly now.

The counties in Rice's district haven't fared well. The state reports 388 cases per 100,000 people. As of yesterday, 6 of the 8 counties in Rice's district were faring worse than that average:

• Marlboro- 874
• Dillon- 654
• Chesterfield- 637
• Florence- 601
• Darlington- 531
• Horry- 404 (with the 3rd most infections of any county in the state)

Rice isn't the only House Republican refusing to wear a mask on the floor and endangering the other members and congressional employees. And Pelosi is now trying to force them to-- at least in committee meetings-- asking all the committee chairs to "enforce mask-wearing in all hearings." Republicans, of course, see this as tyranny rather than an attempt to save lives. They're also going berserk that she authorized the sergeant at arms to refuse entry to anyone who is not wearing a mask. (All the Democrats and most of the Republicans members where masks; it's just a handful of extremist Trumpian lunatics like Rice, Clay Higgins, Ted Yoho and Jim Jordan who refuse.)

The Associated Press reported that "The tightening mask rules came as the House Judiciary panel conducted a drafting session Wednesday on a policing bill, the first such meeting held under new rules permitting remote attendance. At a hearing last week, several GOP lawmakers, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, declined to wear masks, which are considered an easy, effective way to combat the spread of the virus. An advisory by Attending Physician Brian Monahan said that for House members 'in a limited enclosed space, such as a committee hearing room, for greater than 15 minutes, face coverings are REQUIRED.' It said face coverings will be provided for those who arrive without face covers. The Capitol physician’s guidance 'cites new studies that speak to the broad scientific consensus on the effectiveness of mask-wearing to prevent the spread of COVID-19,' the Democratic aide said in an accompanying statement, adding that the Sergeant of Arms will deny entry to lawmakers who don’t wear masks and committee chairs can refuse to recognize them."

With new coronavirus caseloads spiking in Oklahoma just before Trump's Death Cult Rally on Saturday, his campaign's "precautions" go no further than forcing attendees to sign a waiver saying if they contact the disease they cannot sue the campaign or the venue.

Trump’s campaign advisers believe his first rally in three months on Saturday night at an indoor arena will rejuvenate his base at a time when a string of national and state opinion polls have shown the president falling behind Democratic rival Joe Biden.

“Ultimately, the president doesn’t ask for permission before he” goes to places, said Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt during a briefing on Wednesday. “So we found out that president was coming, so we are going to make sure it’s the best and as safe as possible.”

Oklahoma health officials are urging anyone attending the rally to get tested for the coronavirus before arriving and then to self-isolate following the event and get tested again. The health commissioner urged those over 65 or at higher risk of coronavirus-related complications to stay home.

...In most of the states where cases are spiking, COVID-19 hospitalizations are also rising or at record highs. Unlike spikes reported in new infections, rising hospitalizations cannot simply be attributed to increased testing.

"Die For Me" by Nancy Ohanian

This morning, John Pavlovitz warned the country that a mask is a stupid hill to die on. Lots of people seem to think that not wearing a mask will Make America Great Again. Pavlovitz wrote that "Despite how many people have died, despite how decimated our economy is, despite the near complete shutdown of life (that you’ve been moaning like a dirty-diapered infant for months about)-- this minuscule task is too much to ask? A mask is the small, selfish, ignorant hill you’re choosing to die (and kill) on? The multitudinous non-maskers aren’t a monolith, of course, but most can be loosely organized into two groups:

1) Self-centered narcissists, who simply refuse to make the smallest sacrifice for the health and well-being of others, because they’ve been so weaned on individualism and have so little appreciation for interdependent community-- that anything less than completely unfettered freedom feels restrictive.

2) People with such a cultic adoration of this president that they refuse to wear a mask, because to do so would mean that he was wrong all along and that they were lied to and that we are in grave danger-- so in an oxymoronic attempt at self-preservation, they swallow a toxic cocktail of tearful nationalism, Fox News fakery, macho flexing, and willful ignorance-- and kill people to own the Libs.  

He continued to remind the non-mask wears that "this isn’t about your personal freedom... [or] about physical toughness... If you refuse to wear a mask in a pandemic, you’re not making America great. You’re abusing your freedom, you’re intentionally placing fellow citizens in harm’s way, you’re damaging the economy, and you’re dooming us to far longer restrictions than if you simply put a piece of cloth over your mouth. If you refuse to wear a mask in a pandemic, you’re also not pro-life. You are showing a reckless disregard for yourself and for loved ones and for strangers; the supposedly sacred lives you preach to treasure in the womb, but in practice really aren’t all that concerned with outside of it. And if you refuse to wear a mask in a pandemic-- you’re just not a very good person. We’re in an unprecedented health crisis that has literally shut down the world, and you won’t do literally the simplest thing you’re being asked to, in order to prevent other people from getting sick and dying. Congratulations. You’re failing the 'human' test. Enjoy your hill. It will look great with a headstone."