Mask Mandates Officially Return In California

The return of mask mandates is officially here.

Yup, even in late 2023, masks are back.

Starting Wednesday, several counties in Northern California have reinstated mask mandates in hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare settings. This had previously been rumored, but officially took effect this week. In far left Marin and Santa Clara Counties, those rules apply not just to employees but to anyone entering those facilities.

Contra Costa, Alameda, San Mateo and Sonoma Counties are set to punish all healthcare workers with masking, though won’t require the public to mask. Yet.

They’re back. And they’re not going away anytime soon.

Thanks to the unimaginable incompetence of local health officials, masks will be required in at least those settings until the end of March. Why? Because of flu season, of course!

This is what the endless misinformation from Fauci, the CDC and other health “experts” has created, a permanent state of rolling mandates in far left areas unwilling to accept reality. A culture of safetyism, where panicked administrators enact preemptive mandates that will, inevitably, accomplish nothing.

And it’s exactly why combating that misinformation remains as important as ever.

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 17: Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases arrives to testify at a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies hearing on Capitol Hill on May 17, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Rose Layden-Pool/Getty Images)

Masks Are Never Going Away, Despite Overwhelming Evidence That They’re Useless

It was obvious to anyone paying attention in 2020 that masks were completely ineffective. Decades of pre-pandemic research had confirmed that masks were unable to prevent flu or viral transmission.

Based on pressure from a New York Times column from an unqualified sociologist, the CDC abandoned evidence-based thinking and recommended universal masking to stop the spread of COVID. Shockingly, it failed.

States and counties and countries that tried universal masking fared no better than areas without mandates, and often did worse.

“Experts” made predictions of doom in states like Texas or Florida where masking policies were lax to nonexistent. Only to be immediately and inevitably proven wrong. After years of failure, virtually none of those involved in harming the public, lying about the efficacy of masks and harming children apologized or admitted that masks were ineffective. Even the release of a gold standard evidence review showing that masks don’t stop respiratory viruses wasn’t enough.

READ: NEW STUDY CONFIRMS THAT MASKS LIKELY DON’T WORK TO STOP COVID

So here we are, in late 2023, and anti-science extremists in one of the most populated areas of the country are forcing tens of thousands of people to wear masks. Again. After it already failed in these same counties.

And the worst part is that they aren’t even trying to pretend its based on local conditions.

Mandates Are Back, Even With No Increase In Cases

Just as happened last summer, there was a small increase in COVID incidence across California in 2023. And just like last summer, it dissipated with little impact.

There’s been no surge of infections or hospitalizations since, but because the so-called “experts” expect one in the coming months, these counties reinstated mandates preemptively. With this thinking, how can masks ever permanently end?

There will always be another “surge” around the corner. There will always be new variants. It’s an endemic respiratory virus. Not to mention that officials’ claims that it’s to prevent RSV and flu as well is nonsensical considering all of the studies conducted on masks that showed they failed were conducted against those same viruses.

We know masks don’t stop those viruses, because we already tried them. Multiple times. And they failed.

But “The Science” doesn’t have to reflect the actual science, just the desires of terrified, incompetent hospital administrators, local public health officials or Dr. Anthony Fauci.

For years, we heard a repetitive refrain that these individuals were guided by “evidence and data.” As if we needed more proof they were lying, the decision from Northern California counties to force their residents back into masks cements it. What’s equally as concerning is to imagine how far these policies will spread, especially if there is a “surge” or new variant.

The Pandora’s box of endless masking was opened in 2020. And there’s no sign of it shutting anytime soon.