Okay, it is rant time again. A day or two ago, Palm Beach, Fl unanimously passed an ordinance requiring the wearing of a mask. I gather this was based on the advice of a doctor who had spoken before the city council. Immediately the room erupted and several local citizens spoke out against it.

Here is what one said:
“You literally cannot mandate people wearing a mask, knowing that that mask is killing people. It literally is killing people. We the people are waking up and we know what citizen’s arrest is, and citizen’s arrests are already happening. And every single one of you obeying the devil’s law are going to be arrested. And YOU, DOCTOR, are going to be arrested for crimes against humanity.”

Another said similar things and added:
“Doctor, you need to go back to school and be reeducated, because you don’t know what you are talking about.”

Where to even begin? There’s a lot to unpack here. First, for some updates on coronavirus:

While a lot of people are going about their daily lives as though the pandemic never happened, it not only did, it is STILL very much going on. The amount of cases have risen horribly. Texas has had days of increasing numbers, going in the exact opposite direction from what is needed for safely being open. Houston is approaching 100% bed usage from CV hospitalizations. Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin are in bad shape. Then there is California, which reopened quicker than they should have, given they are the most populated state. Their numbers are going way up again. Then there is Arizona and Florida, experiencing huge, dangerous spikes. Three of these states are mostly conservative and even those governors are slowing things down again, out of an abundance of caution. The one liberal state of the four is the most populated state in the country. THEN there are all the additional states that are seeing spikes, albeit lower (for now). We are up to 29 states in the orange. This is not good. Yesterday, we set a new record for new cases, at over 38k. The record it broke was set April 25, at 36k. This is NOT slowing down. Anything but.

Why are the numbers going up? There are a lot of reasons. First, the most obvious. Corona/social distancing/shelter in place fatigue. We are all just over it, even those very cautious. Second, the economy. While many people are in a position to work from home, students are transitioning, and some people have larger bank accounts, tens of millions have to go to a job outside their home, cannot afford to not work, cannot do the job online, and are already underpaid and have bills due from weeks at home. For all too many, this is just as much a matter of life or death as coronavirus itself. Third, the protestors. Yeah, they are almost certainly responsible for some. Most have worn masks. But even with masks, if you are packed like sardines, disease will spread. There is however, NO credible evidence to suggest the protests have caused MASS spread of the disease.

There are two other main reasons. One is that there are millions of younger Millennials and Zoomers who believe (like the young always do) that they are invincible. It won’t affect them. They are being horribly selfish to not think of their older loved ones, but okay. The younger are dying in droves of this disease now, and they don’t believe it will hurt them. Two is the vast numbers of people who think, for whatever reasons (religious, our peculiar vision of “freedom”, conspiracy theorists, mixture thereof) refuse to wear masks. But the repeatedly provable FACT is that wearing a mask DOES protect against spread. Everyone wearing is better protection. It simply does. Stop with the stupidity. As for the comments quoted above, heaven help me. First off, Ms Conspiracist #1, the mask is NOT killing people. It is saving people. I hate this moronic belief that by wearing a mask, you are increasing your chances of catching CV. Here’s a news flash. If you already have it, then breathing your own breath back in isn’t going to do worse. Second, explain exactly how that works, spreading something to others through a mask, but not through God’s OPEN FREAKING AIR? Masks are NOT literally killing people. As for citizens arrests, prove it. I spent awhile googling and could find nothing. Zero. Nada. And since when is it the devil’s work? I know it isn’t in the Bible, but this very old saying still applies: God helps those who help themselves. It is the worst of arrogance and hubris to believe God wants you to behave this way. As for human rights violations, crimes against humanity, have you checked your president out lately? The one who wanted to reduce tests so the numbers wouldn’t reflect badly on him? The one who refuses to wear a mask while people around him keep getting