Pirate's Cove

Why are we wearing masks outdoors to start with? The only reason I wear one is because the company I work for requires it when interacting with customers. And when it was chilly outdoors, kept my face warm. I walk out of a store and it’s coming right off, and, if you don’t like that (as some lady gave me guff yesterday, was rather shocked, especially since I was nowhere near her), well, tough you know what

CDC To Reportedly Relax Outdoor Mask Guidance Tuesday

The CDC is expected to relax the guidance on outdoor masks as early as Tuesday.

The risk of contracting the coronavirus is much lower outdoors than it is indoors, especially if you’re vaccinated. So it seems reasonable for the CDC to come out and say that you no longer need to wear a mask if you’re outside, by yourself or with your family or with other vaccinated individuals, away from others.

That said, if you’re in a crowded area, even if it’s outdoors, you should continue to wear a mask. And for the foreseeable future, you should also continue to wear a mask in indoor public spaces. But let’s see what changes the CDC issues this week.

Why? Why wear it? This is absurd. So, I guess we’ll see what China Joe has to say, and, for at least those of us in North Carolina, if this will influence Gov. Cooper to do the same here in NC.

Tucker Carlson: We should start asking people to stop wearing masks outside, it makes us uncomfortable

In May of last year, the mayor of Los Angeles, a man called Eric Garcetti, issued this order to America’s second-largest city. “Bring your mask with you whenever you leave your home. That will help us get more freedoms.” Garcetti isn’t much of an orator, to put it mildly, but it was a memorable quote, mostly because of the questions it left unanswered. For example, is it really possible to spread the coronavirus outdoors? That’s the first and more obvious. And then more fundamentally, since when is a mayor in charge of doling out America’s freedoms? Aren’t those freedoms guaranteed by the constitution that created the country? That’s what they’ve been telling us.

So, it would have been nice to hear the answers to those questions. Unfortunately, at the time, a lot of the country was so terrified of the new pandemic that no one thought to ask those questions. People just obeyed. It was a big change. Other politicians watched it happen. They saw a smarmy nonentity like Eric Garcetti, a guy you wouldn’t trust to clean your pool, suddenly assume unprecedented, god-like new powers, simply by asserting them. “Cover your face!” “Ok, boss.” Not a bad trick. So, naturally, other politicians wanted some of that power too. That’s why they’re in the business, for power. So they did the same thing that Garcetti did. And once again, no one pushed back.

People were scared. They were concerned. Remember what was happening. We were hearing about this coming from China. Then the cruise ships, and people were wondering how they heck COVID got to them. Then the implosion in Italy (none of the big media bothered to mention the huge Chinese worker population from the Wuhan province in Italy). That scared people. It made it easy to slap down rights and it looked so common sense to implement authoritarian measures.

It’s the law! Right, we’ve heard. But why is it the law? There’s no scientific justification for any of it. Children are not at meaningful risk from COVID. They never have been. Adults who’ve been vaccinated or naturally infected — and that’s a huge percentage of the American population — aren’t either. If you’ve got high levels of antibodies in your system, you’re almost certainly safe. Those who don’t have antibodies can get the shot. Every American who wants the vaccine can get one. At this point, there is no scientific justification for any mask mandate, anywhere. It’s that simple. The idea that people are being told, being forced, to wear masks outside should shock us. There was never any risk of mass transmission outdoors. We’ve known that for at least a year. Last spring, researchers in China traced 318 separate coronavirus outbreaks to find out where they originated, and how. Of those 318 outbreaks, only a single one could plausibly be connected to a person who was outside. All the rest were indoors. Last November, a review of all existing peer-reviewed research on this subject appeared in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. That review found that the odds of contracting the virus outdoors were about 19 times lower than the risk of contracting it inside. In April, researchers in Japan came to the same conclusion.

Remember last spring when the Credentialed Media were losing their minds over kids on spring break? And you had that idiot dressing as the Grim Reaper walking the beaches to scare the college kids (wasn’t it hypocritical for him to be out?)? Yet, there was no follow up about that, because the kids weren’t getting it, at least not more than some sniffles.

Finally, last week, the New York Times admitted all this. According to the paper, scientists have discovered, “few if any documented cases of brief outdoor interactions leading to COVID transmission.” So people running in the park are safe. They always were safe. And, in fact, the evidence is so overwhelming that even America’s leading purveyor of lockdown porn has been forced to concede it.

That last would be Fauci. See, it went from you should wear one outside if you are going to be in close proximity to other people to “just wear it outside” in many places. If I’m on the walking trail behind the house, forget it, not wearing it. Except when chilly. Because I would wear a gaitor or something else anyhow even before Bat Soup Virus.

So, we get to see what China Joe announces today. And, it will be interesting to see if the CDC does relax the “rules” and Joe continues to wear masks outside, even though he’s also fully vaccinated.