Lift the mask mandate – Letters Of Liberty

**Lift the mask mandate — The Monterey Herald – March 10, 2021**

“There’s no reason to be walking around with a mask,” infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci told “60 Minutes” on March 8, 2020. But, he added that masks could be effective tools for health care providers to prevent transmission from seriously ill people. Was his opinion unsubstantiated? Not at all. The US CDC and the UN WHO held very similar opinions against wide-scale mask mandates and in favor of targeted measures.

Such doctrine was based on years of experience and research. Unfortunately, state governments ordered these universal mandates in California and elsewhere by the summer of 2020. Now it is 2021, and armed with six months of additional data to interpret, researchers have determined that the mandates still do not work in preventing the spread of Covid-19. Why did we have to put ourselves through this drill? To convince ourselves that governments were “doing something”? Fortunately, Texas and various other states have recently lifted the mandates. “Absolutely reckless” retorted California Governor Newsom. This is emotional reasoning, not scientific evidence. Let California breathe, Mr. Governor.

—Thomas Lee, Monterey