Mask Mandates Do Not Save Lives

From American Thinker.com (Mar. 17):

Although some studies have concluded that masks help stop the spread of COVID-19, usually they have failed to replicate real-world situations.  A common approach is to evaluate the effectiveness of mask material at stopping the expulsion or intake of the aerosols presumed to be the airborne carriers of the virus.  Useful information, perhaps, but at this stage, what we need to know is whether the widespread use of masks is measurably reducing the risk of death from the disease.  To continue requiring the use of masks makes sense only if there is compelling data that death rates are lower for people who wear masks than it is for people who do not.

We have no way of measuring whether or how much and how appropriately individuals wear masks, but state mandates that people wear them are predicated on the notion that more people will do so if they are threatened with a fine or punishment.  Thus, it makes sense to demand that states with mask mandates have lower COVID-19 death rates than states that don't.  If states with mask mandates are not experiencing lower rates than states without them, the citizenry should insist that the burdensome policy of requiring masks be abandoned.

Logic or speculation alone cannot provide a reliable answer to the question of mask effectiveness.  Neither can the judgments and proclamations of politicians or even public health experts.  What we need is data.

The Data

At this URL, it is possible to extract Census Bureau estimates of population for individual states as of July 1, 2020.

The Centers for Disease Control maintains a website that reports the total number of people who have died from COVID-19.  Updated daily, the table provides the figures for each state and for the country as a whole.  The state figures for virus deaths were extracted from this source on or about February 16.

U.S. News and World Report published an article identifying which states have and have not mandated masks.  For those states with a mask mandate, the article tells when the mandate was put into effect.

Those three sources provided the raw data for everything that follows.  At the end of this article, I will link to a table containing all the data that were extracted from those sources to answer the question of mask effectiveness. [read more]

What is stupid is requiring people to wear a mask after they have been fully vaccinated. What’s the point? The CDC says fully vaccinated people can gather indoors without a mask. Some on the Left will ignore this advice and do what they want anyway. They love power.

Why is China Joe still wearing a mask after he has been fully vaccinated? Is this virtue signaling?

Other articles on masks:

• If One Mask Doesn’t Work, Try Two, or Three, or Four…
• Two masks now required to enter Manhattan federal court buildings
• Did the CDC Really Say We Need to Wear 2 Masks? Here’s What You Need to Know About Double-Masking
• Infectious disease expert says wearing two masks could enhance ability to get infected by COVID-19
• Fauci reverses himself again, says double masking for COVID-19 doesn't 'make a difference'
• Public Health Measures like Mask Mandates Lead to Unintended and Unpredictable Outcomes
• Biden Administration F’s Up MAJORLY, Millions of Counterfeit N95 Masks Distributed to Frontline Workers
• Unmasking the Medical Experts
• When It Comes to Wearing a Face Mask, It’s Time to Challenge the Pseudo-Science
• Enough Is Enough: Time to Finally Follow the Science on Masks
• Mask-Wearing Represents Fear and Blind Obedience, Not Science