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As the debate on mandated mask-wearing continues to rage in an almost-berserk manner, the latest headlines feature a step-up in making sure you’re compliant with whatever rules come down the line. To that end, robots may be put to use in public buildings and transport systems to scan your face and remind you to put on your mask if you’re not wearing it.
How that might be extended to home use is anybody’s guess, but if Dr. Deborah Birx gets her way, you’ll be wearing masks there, too. “You need to really consider wearing a mask at home, assuming that you're positive, if you have individuals in your households with comorbidities," Birx said on CNN.
In other news CNN reported that some mask-wearing countries are considering putting pressure on non-mask countries to get onboard and require their citizens to wear masks, too. For example, Sweden, Finland and The Netherlands have taken the stance that masks “are pointless.”
Finland decided not to mandate masks the end of May, citing studies that “five of eight systematic reviews found no evidence that the use of masks would provide any benefit in controlling sources of infection or protecting healthy persons from exposure to respiratory infections.”
Even Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is the face of the COVID-19 team in the U.S., was recorded in an interview saying that although wearing a mask might make you feel better, it might only block a drop of the virus. “There’s no reason to be walking around with a mask,” he said.
Fauci later changed his mind and began recommending mask-wearing, but he still told NPR he didn’t regret advising people not to wear them earlier.
Confounding the debate is a warning on mask boxes that says they "will not provide any protection against COVID-19 (coronavirus)." The warning’s real, but you should still wear the mask, the CDC says, to “help prevent the spread of the disease by blocking respiratory droplets that leave a person's mouth while coughing, sneezing or talking.”
To top it off, Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said that mask-wearing as well as physical distancing could be in place for another two or three years, even with a vaccine.
SOURCES:
CNN August 4, 2020
CNN August 2, 2020
Summit News August 4, 2020
WUSA9 June 25, 2020
YouTube July 15, 2020
Utiset May 29, 2020
CBC News August 4, 2020
NPR July 16, 2020