Yes, End The Outdoor Mask Mandate

Printed from: https://newbostonpost.com/2021/04/20/yes-end-the-outdoor-mask-mandate/

For more than 13 months, Massachusetts government has altered our ways of life in response to the coronavirus pandemic — and it’s well past time to drop the outdoor mask mandate in Massachusetts.

There have been increased calls to make this change over the past week now that every American ages 16 and up is eligible for the vaccine and has been since Monday. New Hampshire Republican Governor Chris Sununu lifted his state’s mask mandate last week, left-wing news outlets like Slate and The Atlantic have stories talking about why we don’t need masks outdoors anymore; the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance is calling for it to end, as is the state’s former acting Governor Jane Swift, a socially liberal Republican.

Paul Craney of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance put it well in a press release on Tuesday morning, saying, “It’s time Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito lifted the outdoor mask order. Those in our most vulnerable populations who want a vaccine now have that protection and with vaccines available to everyone as of Monday, it’s time to start taking steps back to normal.”

The state’s mask mandate never made much sense.  It went into effect in May 2020 — after the worst part of the pandemic was over.

Liberal deity Anthony Fauci told the public to not wear masks in March 2020, one of many blows to his credibility. It’s horrible that nearly 600,000 people have died in this pandemic, and blunders like that, hurting public trust, surely had something to do with it. So, perhaps, did our country’s lack of interest in addressing problems like poor hygiene, obesity, and substance abuse. Liberal immigration and visa policies don’t help public health, either.

Charlie Baker made things worse, though, in November 2020 when he mandated masks on all public property — even when six feet of social distancing is possible. That last part was not a piece of the May 2020 mandate. I saw how stupid this policy was firsthand when walking the Cape Cod National Seashore in the dead of winter, as NewBostonPost previously reported. It was a Saturday afternoon and no one was there. Just imagine what it would’ve looked like at 11 p.m. on a Tuesday.

Evidence is coming out that people are far less likely to catch the virus outdoors than when they are indoors — which makes sense, of course — so why obstruct people’s breathing while they’re trying to exercise? As a Slate column points out, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre did a study they shared with The Irish Times that found that out of 232,164 cases in Ireland, just 262 came from “locations which are primarily associated with outdoor activities.” That’s about 0.1 percent of total cases.

Thankfully, though, people seem to be ignoring the governor’s order. When I walked five miles on the beach on the South Shore on Tuesday morning, virtually no one was wearing a mask. Good. It was bright, sunny, more than 60 degrees Fahrenheit. People gave strangers personal space — which is a good thing even outside of a pandemic, because other germs exist, as well. Surely these weren’t all diehard Donald Trump voters, either.

The same social liberals in government mandating that we wear masks, including Governor Baker, are all about so-called “my body, my choice” and individual autonomy when it comes to killing babies in the womb — including letting 16 and 17-year-olds have abortions without parental consent. However, when it comes to letting you live your life — vaccinated or not — that sentiment is nowhere to be found.

Meanwhile, if you want to wear a mask and gloves, avoid crowds and stay home when possible, people should respect that decision.

However, if someone wants to go golfing, hiking, or for a walk on the beach … let’s stop this nonsense of pretending that trying to require a mask is helping anybody. Instead, let’s live and let breathe.

 

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