This article from Epoch Times was sent to me earlier today. I'm not familiar with this news company so can't attest to reliability of info. But if true, why does Fauci even still have a job?
CALL-OUT:
“White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced Wednesday that masks will not be required in the White House’s West Wing.... It came after Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of the White House virus task force, said that masks aren’t 100 percent effective against the spread of the virus, but he said they do provide some protection."
Truth, they aren't even 50 percent effective based on the research. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4420971/
https://www.oralhealthgroup.com/features/face-masks-dont-work-revealing-review/
I think this argument is a bit more nuanced that people are giving it credit for. Yes personally I think masks are by and large a waste and do little to stop the spread and I think there's plenty to criticize Fouchi for. That said and out of the way...
If we take the argument at its face value and uncritically what are we being told? That masks help prevent the spread of COVID-19 from infected people who are asymptomatic to healthy people.
So, should the whitehouse staff wear them (assuming uncritically that this is 100% true)? Well as Kayleigh pointed out, she (and others in the west wing) are tested regularly for the virus. So if they can know for 100% certain that they don't have the virus to give to others then logically it follows that they wouldn't have to wear a mask to prevent the possibility of spreading the virus.
Someone like me however who doesn't have access to regular ongoing testing couldn't know that I don't have it and (again assuming what they are saying is true) could potentially stop spread by wearing it as a precautionary measure. So again, while I think there's other reasons to be critical of them, I don't think this on its face is hypocrisy as much as it is, one group has the privilege of knowing while the rest just have to operate in the dark.
That said... I have no intentions of wearing a mask :P
I see your point about the issue being more nuanced, if we take at face value the argument that masks help prevent the spread from asymptomatic people. However, at this point that argument appears to be falling apart and Fauci has to know that.
Just about two weeks ago, the WHO (if they can still be trusted as a reliable source of information about the virus) announced via press conference that the latest studies show that asymptomatic spreading of the coronavirus appears to be “very rare.” https://www.aier.org/article/world-health-organization-walks-back-claim-about-asymptomatic-spread/
And in their June 5 guidelines on masks use, they state: The widespread use of masks by healthy people in the community setting is not yet supported by high quality or direct scientific evidence and there are potential benefits and harms to consider…the use of a mask alone is insufficient to provide an adequate level of protection. (Source.)
So, my issue with Fauci and some of the states' public health officials is their claim that their directives are based on science, but at least with regards to the use of masks there doesn't seem to be any science that actually supports it. I believe they know this and are being blatantly dishonest. In fact, I posted in another thread about an article in the New England Journal of Medicine which concludes that the only real benefit of wearing masks appears to be psychological -- it provides the illusion of safety, hence people feel safe.
The authors of that report seem to agree with the WHO that there's no public health benefit to wearing the masks to prevent COVID-19 spread. They write:
"The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal. In many cases, the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic."
They add that:
"It is also clear that masks serve symbolic roles. Masks are not only tools, they are also talismans that may help increase health care workers’ perceived sense of safety, well-being, and trust in their hospitals."
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2006372
I've recently learned that residents in some cities and states like Ohio have pushed back on the masks requirements with the backing of those in the medical profession, and as a result the mask mandates in those places were rescinded. If more people started pushing back, then it would up to individuals to decide for themselves whether to wear them or not to wear them, which is how it should be and what most people did in previous years when there was the threat of either a bad flu season or during the Sars-COV1 or H1N1 epidemics. I remember during H1N1 some people chose to wear masks, especially on public transport, but it wasn't mandatory.
I truly believe now that this whole thing--masks, social distancing, lockdowns--has been mostly politically and egoistically motivated rather than public health motivated, especially given the very disparate treatment by our governors and mayors to the people protesting the lockdown that flouted the masks and social distancing orders compared to their treatment of BLM protesters doing the same.
I'm sure there are some in leadership who acted in what they believed or were led to believe was in the public's best interests. However, there are some like Fauci who I think saw this as an opportunity to advance ideas and agendas they've been planning for decades, while others saw it as an opportunity to advance their political careers and take out Trump, and some just plain acted out of fear, which almost always makes for poor decisions.
Yeah I probably should have been a bit clearer on that. Like I said in the end I still wouldn't wear facemasks and the reasons are exactly what you outline there. The problem is that most facemasks are really useless anyways.
The blue disposable medical ones don't provide tight fights and don't filter out large particles and are more designed to keep splatters away from your nose and mouth so they are almost completely useless.
Many of the N95 ones are not designed to filter the air that you're breathing out and many even include special vents to allow the air to pass out completely unfiltered, so in terms of preventing spread many of them are almost 100% useless (which is apparently the main reason for wearing them).
The home-made / cloth ones are about as effective at filtering out viruses from the air as a chain link fence is at keeping mosquitoes out of your yard (and since germs and bacteria can actually start to breed in them these become worse than useless).
etc.
Not to mention the risks of reduced air and oxygen flow to the body over a prolonged period or the extra strain on the lungs... Or the unreliability of the WHO etc. My main point was simply that of all the things to criticize them over, the apparent hypocrisy of the west wing not wearing masks isn't one of them.
Just came across this article on the dangers of face masks. About mid-way down, it includes a story of how an an attorney in Orange County, Ca had the county rescind its face masks requirement. (Seems a bit harsh what she did). https://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/face-masks-harm-children-and-some-have-even-died-california-governor-dictates-eve
This would be good information to have at your disposal when the "maskers" get on your case about not wearing a mask.
You're right, there's much to criticize them on. The attorney who helped get Orange County's mask mandate rescinded works with an organization called Advocates for Citizens Rights. I'm hoping to use the info./ resources on their site to get the mask mandate rescinded in my state.
Some good info here: https://www.thehealthyamerican.org/masks-dont-work