As all of Florida is now in some stage of reopening, we have new research on how much more constructive living life with a mask appears to be, rather than staying at home waiting for life to happen again. My recent analysis identified 84% of newly diagnosed COVID-19 during the first week of May came from people staying at home. That made staying at home only 1% safer from the virus than being a frontline worker. It’s clear that not doing anything isn’t really helping the cause or our health.
A study entitled: Universal Masking is Urgent in the COVID-19 Pandemicby the Population Research Institute found that when 80% of the population wear masks in public, meaningful progress is made in stopping the spread of the virus.
How effective is that 80% masking? So much so that it’s safer to be in public with a mask than at home without one. That’s pretty compelling if you ask me. It was evident even early on in the lockdowns that mistakes in policy would be made. Now we're gaining clarity into what they were. Rather than lockdowns, mandatory public masks would appear to have been more effective. Imagine how much better off our economy and lives would be if we would have taken that approach over the lockdowns? With this research now in hand, the policy should begin to reflect the facts. But the question once again comes down to whether policymakers are interested in facts or if they’re driven by fear and/or control.
Using facts as we now know them the best possible public policy is mandated masks in public places you come in contact with others and NO lockdowns.
While we wait and advocate for policymakers to follow our best interests, this study is actionable for all of us. Wearing masks in public is important for our safety and the spread of the virus. There’s nothing better we can do generally than to wear them. We should all have multiples and make sure they’re properly handled and cleaned after use (or disposed of if they’re single-use). It’s time to get back to life and into reality.
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