As the mask debate continues to circle around and around, one of the things that seems to need pointing out is that if you’re going to mandate wearing masks (which, it needs to be re-stated is a provincial and/or municipal decision and not a federal one), that is going to have to come with some sort of consequences for not adhering to rules for wearing it, and that’s where things get very sticky, and start getting into areas where civil liberties start getting at stake – and if there are to be no consequences for not adhering, then what’s the point of making them mandatory? So it’s not really as easy as you may think.
Meanwhile, here is infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch on why this is not a cut-and-dried discussion.
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Nobody is arguing that masks don't work at an individual level. They help reduce the probability of transmitting infection – we've known this long before #COVID19.Proximity and duration of exposure to an infected person are key factors, especially in indoor settings…
— Isaac Bogoch (@BogochIsaac) June 28, 2020
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*Build trust now before any possible mandate*We have a lull now in Canada. Now is the time to do this.
We may get a second wave in the fall/winter where mandates may be enacted depending on outbreak/location. Don't shoot your shot too soon (below).
— Isaac Bogoch (@BogochIsaac) June 28, 2020
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And if/when masks are mandated, give them away free of charge. *THIS IS AN EQUITY ISSUE*You cannot exclude people from interacting with the world around them. Some cannot afford or make a mask.
Check out this successful program: https://t.co/BObBZfHJHS
— Isaac Bogoch (@BogochIsaac) June 28, 2020
8/ Enforcement: Remember that disaster with Toronto By-Law officers handing out $880 fines for being in a park during the lockdown? Remember how well that turned out for public trust in public health? Yeah. Don't do this. If you think about mandating, how do you enforce?
— Isaac Bogoch (@BogochIsaac) June 28, 2020
10/ Enforcement III: Equity. There's that word again.
Just read the title:
"Millions of dollars in COVID-19 fines disproportionately hurting Black, Indigenous, marginalized groups: report"
Now forget fines, and think about access to transit & business.https://t.co/BLA5wS6VzD
— Isaac Bogoch (@BogochIsaac) June 28, 2020
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Science: Good luck with a reasonable discussion on twitter.Think about the incremental value of masks in *community* (not individual) settings. Look at assumptions & primary data in the models. Sadly they don't do as much as we would like. @AntibioticDoc knows what's up.
— Isaac Bogoch (@BogochIsaac) June 28, 2020
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In Canada, when you consider timing, current burden, geography, enforcement, practical measures, politicization, data, messaging/communication, and forecasting…now is not the time to mandate masks. We *may* get there (key word: "may"), but we are not there yet.— Isaac Bogoch (@BogochIsaac) June 28, 2020
Good reads:
- The federal government has pledged another $300 million to foreign assistance around COVID-19, but naturally are being encouraged to pledge far more.
- The New NAFTA is about to be formally enacted on Wednesday, as the Americans are talking about new tariffs.
- As airlines move to relax physical distancing rules (claiming HEPA filters and so on), there are opposition calls for the federal government to mandate it.
- The National Post has a lengthy piece about the confusion around what systemic racism means, and why that confusion leads to some people reject its importance.
- The Conservatives want the Auditor General to audit the government outsourcing the student grant programme to WE Charities. (Sure, what’s one more task for her?)
- Chantal Hébert looks at the dwindling number of options for Trudeau when it comes to dealing with China and the situation with the Two Michaels.
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I wear a mask everytime I go out in public. I do this to protect others as I know the mask won’t stop the virus as I breath in,but will mitigate my breath as I breathe out. I now see hardly any masks being worn by others. I guess they don’t care about me. Why is that?
See, I knew WE-gate would end up being another Scheer stupidity nontroversy just like the secret mansion at Harrington Lake. This has all the makings of trying to paint Sophie and Margaret (!) as “Crooked Hillary” I and II. The WE charity does good work, and it just makes them look really, really low. But I await Skippy going full tinfoil and demanding a full inquiry into pizza and ping pong tables being purchased via a private email server in the basement of the Pierre Trudeau Foundation. “The Kielburger brothers killed Ben Ghazi and Seth Rich in the parking lot of West Point Grey Academy. Don’t believe me? It’s Tru, deau!” I’m sure Fife will oblige Ezra another garbage op-ed column calling for Big ‘Dris to testify about the whereabouts of the missus. The Cons need to get off MAGA conspiracy Twitter, do some actual work, and come up with credible policies instead of manufacturing outrage. If they can’t or won’t do that, they need to just go away.