article - it's time to stop wearing masks outdoors

as will happen, the board has had its share of idiotic anti-vax takes coming up to the surface. annoying, bothersome at minimum, and a pov that simply will not die in the face of evidence and statistics and basic decency.

but here's a covid response that i think we should be ready to cast into the garbage: the high degree of out-door mask use.

https://slate.com/technology/2021/04/masks-outside-covid-risk-low.amp?__twitter_impression=true

all of the studies, from the relatively early days to current stuff, appear to show that outdoor transmission is rare, perhaps to the point of insignificance. it's almost certainly the case that there is far more risk in being in a grocery store or any kind of indoor place with people close to you with a mask on than in being outdoors passing people on a sidewalk without a mask.

this was apparent from the start, fairly obvious once we knew how the disease was relayed, and all the available data & stats supports the needlessness to mask outside.

but i know here i'd say 90%+ of people i pass on the streets are masked. & i still get looks and occasional pissy comment from people when i walk or jog by them.

which is just silly.

now we've had a bad go of it here, and i can be swayed by people saying 'go along with the performance, just to preserve the peace.' people are still freaked out.

fine. ok. show some respect to people. i can go along with that.

yet...we should be at the stage by now where we can normalize things that are clearly pretty harmless. and going maskless outdoors is surely one of them.

make masklessness outdoors ok. this is the hill i want to defend this year.