Is the Anchorage mask mandate working?

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30 DAYS INTO THE MANDATE, CASES HAVE SPIKED

Mayor Ethan Berkowitz ordered all people in the municipality to mask up on June 26, 2020 to flatten the curve on COVID-19. If you’re out and mingling about in Alaska’s largest city, you are required to have a covering over your nose and mouth.

More than four weeks later, the number cases of coronavirus has exploded in Alaska, with Anchorage leading the pack. On June 26, there were 14 new cases identified in Anchorage as the mandate was put into effect. On July 22, 60 new cases were identified. Three days later, 158 cases in Anchorage were diagnosed, more than doubling the number of Anchorage cases in just three days.

And yet the compliance has been outstanding in Anchorage, for the most part, according to many observers. In stores, parks, and other public places, nearly everyone wears a mask these days. Some people even wear masks while taking a stroll in the fresh air.

Must Read Alaska has been monitoring this trend since the mandate went into effect and has observed COVID-19 spiking ever since the mandate was put in place. This is not to suggest the mask is useless, but raises the question about whether it’s working or if, indeed, the China virus would have spread even more rapidly without the mask mandate.

It’s possible that people are not taking seriously the other precautions, such as hand washing, staying six to 10 feet away from other people, and washing down surfaces with virus-killing solutions like alcohol, soap, or other sanitizers.

The combination of these precautions may slow the virus’ spread, but also require constant vigilance and the public may have become complacent, believing that masks are the magic bullet.

On Sunday, the Department of Health and Social Services announces the highest number of confirmed cases in a single day since the pandemic hit Alaska in March — 231 newly diagnosed individuals. Of these, 186 are residents and 45 are nonresidents. Of the nonresident cases, 34 are in the seafood industry, one is in the visitor industry and 10 are unknown.

There are four individuals on ventilators due to COVID-19 in Alaska, and 35 in the hospital. One more death over the reporting period brings the total number to 20 since March, and there are 1,687 active cases, which likely means there are many more active but not diagnosed. Some 207,264 COVID-19 tests have been administered in Alaska since March 2.

“Daily cases over 100 will soon diminish our hospital bed capacity. Now is the time for Alaskans to keep their social circles small, maintain 6 feet of distance from others, and wear a face covering when 6 feet can’t be maintained,” said Adam Crum. “Let’s work together to slow the spread, to protect our vulnerable, and to keep our businesses and economy running. It’s critical that Alaskans take this seriously. More announcements on mitigation strategy will be coming over the next couple days.”

77 COMMENTS

  1. Or it could mean that the ‘myths’ about mask use are true, and anything less than NP95 (which those at risk should wear) does nothing to slow the spread.

  2. I wear a mask not because I agree with this or even because I believe it is effective, but the only reason I wear one is to prove that these politicians are putting all these restrictions because they are ineffective power hungry politicians that want to take our freedom away. Your article is a start to hopefully a movement- that the mayor is politically dead after covid because we have learned his true colors. H would rather hurt the economy, ruin people’s lives and ineffectively force rules down people’s throats (almost literally with the face mask mandate) because they are power hungry dictators.

    • By most accounts, Berky believes in junk science. If he had half a brain he could figure it out. But being a dumborat he’s just following the Marxist line. Must be something in it for him.

  3. “And yet the compliance has been outstanding in Anchorage, for the most part, according to many observers.”

    Your many observers are obviously not my many observers.

    BTW, the “china virus” is a nice trumpanzy touch; monkey see, monkey do!

    • I’m sorry but there is nothing wrong with referring to this as the China virus…that is where it originated. Just like the Spanish Flu pandemic which killed 40-50 million, the Russian flu which killed 1 million, the Asian flu which killed 1.1 million and the Hong Kong flu which killed 1 million. This virus has killed 608 thousand as of yesterday. It is not a “trumpanzy” touch (by the way, that is. It even a real word, if you want to throw insults please use then English language). In addition, in all my travels around town (which is quite extensive) I see the vast majority of people wear some sort of face covering.

      • Nita, maybe we should call it now the Trump virus due to the lack of leadership of the current president of the United States.

        Like probably most of the fellows here think that Spanish Flu is named after it originated, sadly this is wrong. You may have forgotten that first observations of illness and mortality of the Spanish Flu were documented in the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. The Spanish Flu got is name because Newspapers were free to report the epidemic’s effects in neutral Spain, such as the grave illness of King Alfonso XIII, and these stories created a false impression of Spain as especially hard hit. This gave rise to the name “Spanish” flu. Yeah, according to history record – and your thought of mind – we should definitively nickname this virus the TRUMP virus.

        For sources, I suggest you read the Spanish Flu article on wikipedia, scroll to the bottom and follow the live link (one cannot post them here for some clear obscurantism reasons).

        • Wow! Wikipedia-a totally objective unbiased source. Try another:

          Despite the fact that the 1918 flu wasn’t isolated to one place, it became known around the world as the Spanish flu, as Spain was hit hard by the disease and was not subject to the wartime news blackouts that affected other European countries. (Even Spain’s king, Alfonso XIII, reportedly contracted the flu.)

          Your TDS will eat you up.

          • I don’t know if I should congratulate you for being able to read the secondary sources I provided in my answer (wikipedia), or be that you did not take my suggestion to read the primary sources (articles) cited by Wikipedia.
            You could have learn from Crosby AW (2003) [ISBN 978-0-521-54175-6] or Worobey, M et al (2019) [DOI 10.1093/emph/eoz001. PMID 30805187. S2CID 67863937].

            I am still wondering why I had to post twice this comment. My guess is that MRAK does not want the reader to provide facts, but the reader to turn the MRAK opinions into facts.

        • Nice to know we have China apologists standing by to defend a country that rounds people up like cattle and who purposely directed this virus to other countries by shutting down air traffic in their own country, but keeping open routes to the west.

          • I am not defending China, I merely suggest that the Trump virus would be more suitable, since SARS-COV-2 got his higher death toll in the U.S., under the Trump presidency.

            China, a country that round up people like cattle. Sounds like what is happening is Portland is just the beginning. I guess Trump has good teacher on the other side of the Pacific.

        • The Trump virus ? What a low information thing to say , Trump was the ONLY one trying to protect us . Remember democrats were telling us Trump was a racist and not to listen to him go play out in the streets go do everything you normally do that this was no big deal.. polosi literally went to Chinatown and told everybody to come on down

          Stop being a sheep and start thinking for yourself .

          • Trump as the ONLY one trying to protect you ? Really, would you please explain me why European country beside Sweden are doing well better than the U.S. ?

  4. Study after ignored study has confirmed that masks alone do not work. Even the best filtering mask loses 30% plus of inhaled, exhaled air, because they do not seal positively. The ‘virus’ can infect through the eyes, an open lesion, off your clothes, shoes, hands, most surfaces and myriad other ways. It’s not the thought of a mask that counts. It is effectiveness. But then, wuhan v has handed leftist politicos, communistic students/anarchists in training, and disgruntled blacks, an opportunity that they would not have had in their wildest dreams, otherwise. Democrats are facilitating the fiasco born of wuhan v by ignoring basic judiciary, courts included, right along with police stand downs ordered by democrat socialists in control of the ‘blue’ cities and states. The democrats and “main stream” media are trying to hand America to the socialist, communist agitators by ignoring every shred of legality, morality and their oaths of office, because they hate President Trump more than they love America. He doesn’t play their game. Democrat socialists are right there with China. They are using wuhan v as a weapon (as intended at the start), not a medical issue. Propaganda has mutated truth more than the virus has mutated itself. Fortunately for America, there is a “vaccine”. More than one, as a matter of fact. Lets start with the Declaration of Independence. Then there is that old rascal, the American Constitution. Lets not forget the Bill of Rights. Voting is a valid weapon (vaccine) against tyranny. It must be wielded to be effective. Remember that in November. If we don’t, lamenting America’s fate will be the order of the century.
    Little trivia. Did you know the young leftists want the day America fails completely to be “Day Zero”. The first year of their triumph is to be “Year Zero”. All other history buried and people punished for mentioning it. Like the year zero after Christ died in similar circumstances of political and religious mayhem.

    • This mask update was written much better than your last one. The term China virus aside, it had more facts and less snark. It raises reasonable questions. Thank you.

    • Nice rant. Did you know that SARS-CoV-2 doesn’t care? I’m not sure how the coronavirus is subverting the US Constitution. The virus is not playing by Constitutional rules, it’s playing by natural rules, and I can tell you that the virus is going to win if we don’t get our act together, quit arguing among ourselves, and do what we can to stop this thing.
      Masks are one thing that possibly reduces the chance of avoiding infection, but the main thing is distance, physical distance. And there is no guarantee that six feet is the magic number. And if you are in an enclosed space, all rules are off.
      Let’s be smart people. This is not something that will bend to our will. The best we can hope for is to figure out what we can do to isolate areas of infection until they burn out and avoid spreading the virus ourselves.

      • 100 nanometers in diameter. that is about 200 to 1000 ATOMS wide depending on the atom. Let’s do be smart about it.

      • Greg,
        The ‘virus’ certainly doesn’t play by Constitutional rules. The leftists certainly aren’t either. The ‘virus’ negatively affects less than 2% of Americans. The violations of the Constitution affects every American. You can ignore, debunk, dispute every scientific, doctor’s groups’ determinations and common sense argument to the contrary but the results remain the same. The ‘virus’ has become nothing but a political weapon, much less dangerous than flu. Fear generated by leftists, using the ‘virus’ as a weapon, is decimating America. If Americans don’t toe the ‘virus’ line, commanded by leftists, nothing but false bad news is released by MSM, CDC, FDA, democrat politicians and the seditionists trying to destroy America. Being ‘smart’, in my opinion is relying on proven medical information debunking the leftist narrative on the ‘deadly’ virus, which is less lethal than flu. Believe what you want and spread it as gospel. Truth remains truth, no matter the denials of “experts” trying to destroy America.

  5. I saw a man in Costco with a mask that said ” This mask is as useless as our Mayor!” Good Word!

  6. When will this end? When there are no cases? When is enough, enough? Is there a new goal? Can we know what it is please?

    The hospitals are not overrun. They aren’t overrun in Alaska. They aren’t overrun in NY, the South, or the West coast.

    Is this how we will live forever now? During the flu, RSV, etc? The flu is far more deadly to our kids. Will we close school during the flu season now too?

    Maybe school should never reopen. Let’s eliminate school taxes and all teach our kids at home with the money we save. There are some great online schools that are a fraction of the cost of ASD. ASD will be online now, isn’t that what we should compare it to, other online programs? ASD has adopted a completely arbitrary policy for fall classes, not based on any science or meaningful goals. No accounting for positive test rate, local hospital capacity or disease specific mortality. It is focused only on the number of new cases, in isolation.

    Masks won’t save us, canceling school won’t save us. But they certainly will get us all used to blind conformity.

    99.5% of people who contract Covid are fine. With only a few thousand cases statewide, if we weren’t testing for this thing, if we weren’t hyper focused on it and reporting on it every day, if it didn’t have a name, would most people even know it was happening?

    So far only about 0.3-0.4 percent of Alaskans have tested positive for Covid 19. Today 231 new cases and no new hospitalizations in the batch.

    “But I know or heard of someone who knew someone who was really sick.” People get really sick from all kinds of things every day. People die every day. In large numbers. Life is a dying condition. Let’s not all start acting dead long before we actually are.

    • Well said, but I’m not sure anyone is listening. All of this became clear a month or two ago, but we’re still on a freight train – maybe a cattle car would be a better description – to bondage in a medical dictatorship. Remember when we were supposed to spend two weeks under voluntary house arrest so that our hospitals weren’t overwhelmed? Well, now we can see that wasn’t ever really going to happen. No matter – this week we’re supposed to believe that 35 hospitalizations constitutes a threat to a state with over 1400 beds, and that less than 200 positive tests (reliable or not, who cares?) from people who didn’t even know they were “sick” is an emergency. Next we’ll be told that the (useless) masks aren’t enough, we need more stringent “mitigation.” Did you catch that end quote from Crum? Makes my blood run cold.

      And the state of Alaska is not having a “spike” – if you get rid of the Anchorage data, we’re on the downside of a very small curve. And it’s worth mentioning that Anchorage’s 7/25/20 data is VERY suspect, defying all previous data patterns by running very few tests, specifically 258 tests (why, when they’ve been running an average of 1400 a day – between 886 and 3400 each day – since mid-July?) and a “gigantic” spike of 158 positive results that same day. Are we really to believe that after three months of 1-4% positives, suddenly, overnight, Anchorage has a 55% positive rate?
      The “experts” aren’t even trying to make it sound convincing anymore – we’re just supposed to ask, “How high?” when they tell us to jump. People had better wake up and stop participating in this voluntary insanity before it’s too late to recover our society and our constitutional republic.

    • It will end when we stop listening to them .

      But as long as the sheep just do what their told it will go on forever .

      Just like school was supposed to start 2 days a week and then the Liberals got a hold of it now there is no school.

      we’re losing anchorage because everybody cries but doesn’t actually do anything.

    • Actually, probably virus *on* the masks. Some scientists and medical people have been trying to tell folks all along that masks, especially cloth masks, might be worse than nothing.
      Masks become moist as soon as the person wearing them breathes, and it affects both sides of the mask. That’s kind of the point they’re pushing, right? To collect some of those droplets from your breath? Well, when the masks become moist, they become collectors of particles the person breathes out and breathes in – i.e. a nice sample of everything in the person’s lungs, mouth, nose and surroundings. The few virus-laden droplets that do not entirely escape the mask can adhere to the inside of the mask or cling to the exterior. Any other airborne particles floating around can stick to the outside, as well. So not only is it not entirely unexpected that covid might rise, but also other viruses, bacteria, and fungi, to name a few. Any skin problems developing under/around those masks?

  7. Everyone is wearing them down here effective or not. No one can positively say that they work or not. They do slow down the spread of the kung flu, just like a tornequet slows down a hemmorage. They aren’t a fix. They are a bandaid until we get a shot. Do yourself and those around you a favor and mask up just for the sake that you may save a life by doing so. Is that so hard of a thing to do for your fellow citizens, or are you so selfish that you don’t care? 10000 a day get it in Florida and 150 people die here a day. It killed a healthy 9 year old girl here yesterday. Live your life in a way that others can live theirs. That is a tall order for some in AK.

  8. Masks are the new “pussy hats” of the Resist movement & will fade away after the election. They are useless.

  9. Can we not call it the “China virus”? This spreads racism, segregation, and false information when there’s some theories claiming it never originated in China. It’s called coronavirus. It’s called covid-19. Let’s use our adult words and stop this pointless “us versus them” war mongering.

  10. As with all of the numbers and data coming out context is very important. In the case of the number of positive test results in Anchorage, I am wondering if this is being driven by the testing at the airport. Are the proportionally larger numbers a result of all passengers arriving from out of state being required to take a test if they had not already done so? If so, are those really Anchorage residents or are they heading off to parts unknown where they actually live?
    Regardless, it would appear that the virus is much more prevalent, and far less harmful, than initially suspected.

  11. The push should be for social distancing over masks, especially the ineffective cloth face coverings…a handkerchief will not help you. Most people do not Don and/or doff a mask or face covering correctly which will likely lead to more infections. Every expert when talking about wearing masks says to wear them when you can’t social distance, why hasn’t there been more emphasis on social distancing?

    • Remember back in the good old days, like 4 months ago, when the experts told us to social distance, wash our hands, and don’t touch our faces? The samething hold true today but when you can’t social distance you should wear a mask and still wash your hands and not touch your face. The problem is people aren’t use to wearing stuff on their faces so they actually touch their faces more when wearing a mask/face covering.

    • Hear, hear. The mantra is distance, distance, distance.
      I don’t often agree with Steve-O. In this case, it’s a pleasure to do so.

      If you are where the virus isn’t, you’re good. You can’t catch it if it isn’t there.

  12. The mask mandate is as stupid as the man that is using this “emergency” to advance his narrative, the mayor. Masks don’t stop a virus from going through a population. If you can’t leave the planet, you will be exposed to this virus. Get over it, stay healthy, wash your hands, live your life, let me live mine. The flu will be going through the population pretty soon, so people should be enjoying their summer, not worrying about a virus that has proven to be a pretty weak virus. It only kills the dying.

    • The goal of mask wearing is to slow the spread of the virus in a population, not alone stop it.

      Regarding influenza – there are vaccines to protect against the seasonal flu and treatments to prevent one from dying from it. So far, neither exists for Covid-19.

      Your freedom ends where my nose (mouth, ears, & eyes) begins.

      Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the practical. Wear a mask.

      • The vaccines supposed to protect from seasonal flu aren’t really something to brag about. Influenza viruses mutate quickly and there are several strains circulating in any given season; new vaccines have to be developed each year based on models predicting which strains will be most prevalent/virulent. And now the whole world has seen just how accurate those types of models are. Most people know one, or many, people who’ve gotten the flu right after getting the shot. Well, that’s understandable since the vaccine is fairly, or tremendously, ineffective. Even the agency that pushes the flu shot so vigorously, the CDC, admits that depending on the year, the vaccine protects between 19% and 60% of people who get it. Read that again – some years only 19% of the people vaccinated are protected from getting the flu… EIGHTY-ONE PERCENT are fails! At best, the vaccine works for just over half of the people who get it.
        As for treatments to prevent one from dying from the flu, that reality is not great news either. The CDC estimates that there are 140,000 to 810,000 flu-related hospitalizations, and 12,000 to 61,000 American deaths from the flu each year. For a disease with vaccines and treatments, those are awfully high numbers of sick and dead.
        And the claim that there is no treatment for covid-19 is untrue. In places where hydroxychloroquine has not been banned based on politics, like India where it is a key part of the national response, it has been used for both early treatment and prophylaxis with astounding results. India’s population is 1.3 billion, yet as of July 19 they have had only 27,497 covid-19 deaths– that’s a death rate of 19 per million, or 0.002% (yes, less than the flu)!
        The covid virus is on its way out; the death rate here in America and everywhere else is plummeting to the point that the CDC by their own definition can’t even call it an epidemic anymore; and there’s STILL no scientific evidence that masks prevent community transmission…yet NOW we’re supposed to rush to muzzle ourselves? This does *not* pass the smell test. (OK, pun intended.)

        • Of course the effectiveness of flu vaccines depends on how well the vaccine matches its target, nobody disagrees with that, certainly not me [*]. But again, as with mask wearing, you seem to believe imperfect = impractical.

          If a large study concluded on average 2 in 5 victims of motorcycle crashes, all of whom wore helmets, suffered serious head injury, would you conclude helmets are completely worthless in preventing head injury?

          Wearing a mask is *one* way to help prevent getting infected by Sars-Cov-2, or to prevent infecting others if the wearer is infected and shedding virus. That’s a fact, not a silver bullet.

          As for HCQ in India, googling around a bit turned up that it was being used for a time to prevent infection from Sars-Cov-2, not as a treatment for patients seriously sick with Covid-19. The latest evidence indicates HCQ has no efficacy in treating or preventing Covid-19, and in fact can cause harm in some patients, especially those with cardiac comorbidities. Remdesivir is showing some hope as a treatment, but too early to say for certain.

          [*] Never mind that Sars-Cov-2 is *not* an influenza virus. It’s quite different at the molecular level and on the evidence so far its modes of infection are not well understood.

          • The Lancet article claiming harm from HCQ was based on fraudulent data and retracted, much to the shame of that journal.
            I did not claim that Sars-Cov-2 was the flu; I was responding to your own comment on the subject of flu vaccines and treatments. But Sars-Cov-2 is one of at least seven coronaviruses, and those have been studied for decades. Sars-Cov-2 is so similar in some ways that antibody tests can’t even determine unequivocablywhich coronavirus the person was exposed to.
            Ultimately my argument is not imperfect = impractical. It’s that masks are ineffective and not worth the harm they cause, which I have supported elsewhere.

    • There are plenty of people who get this and are permanently damaged who are neither old nor dying. I have lots of friends who are doctors who flatly contradict your ageist and discriminatory statements.

      • No they aren’t , and No you don’t .

        Stop making up things , you don’t have to lie to kick it .

  13. You are using anecdotal evidence to infer that masks are not working. That is ridiculous! It is hard to say how bad it would have been without the mask mandate. The bottom line is every store I go in, I see non compliance as if the rules apply to everyone else. Masks worn improperly either down around people’s necks or under noses. The bottom line is the spread seems to be most prolific in bars where people don’t wear masks because they are drinking. Add in the alcohol and common sense goes out the window. The fish processing industry is also driving the spread and we also have an international airport here where people fly in and out from the slope all of the time. Let’s be honest about the mandate you have no idea whether or not it is working. Surgeons wear masks to prevent their germs from spreading to their patients. Common sense says they work if people will comply and wear a damn mask properly! Stop spreading disinformation, I trust the science over a Trump supporting self proclaimed “journalist” who thinks public health mandates are somehow an infringement on your Constitutional rights!!

      • How dare you make me wear a mask for a flu that is now over 99.97% survivable!
        A flu that your political party is inflating the numbers, falsifying data and grossly misleading the public by fearmongering via media.
        Were not going to wait for the democrat party to pull the second wave BS off the shelf just in time to suppress and alter the election results.

  14. Virtually nobody wears a mask in the Mat-Su Borough. Keeps the rest of us from patronizing businesses. Just sayin’

    • Doing all my shopping out there now. No mask and I don’t have to see someone publicly masturbate before I enter the door.

      • Yep, we’re doing all our shopping and other business out there too. Lots of us are. And the Mat-Su case numbers, before anyone squeals, are NOT “spiking.”

  15. The CDC guidelines don’t work, never did work and never will work. Protect yourself by upping the strength of your immune system. There is no reason to let this virus ruin anyone’s life… orthomolecular.activehosted.com/index.php?action=social&chash=0777d5c17d4066b82ab86dff8a46af6f.167&ref=facebook&sh=5155730190316da48cbfd0615baf8b4a&fbclid=IwAR1Q2qsIeElpXJhr7j2DeBtQPZDfhsUCjF2wH7xWI68bqPIoc_1EIkZY7Ho

    [Live link removed by moderator]

  16. So why have all my posts that criticize this article being sensored? Apparantly you don’t like to encourage rational exchange of ideas or dissenting voices. Glad I blocked you from my News feed.

  17. Not exactly a medical breakthrough here…surgeons have known this for a long time. “A mosquito (viral particle) flying thru a chain link fence (mask)”
    If masks don’t work, then why do surgeons wear them?
    Dr. Jim Meehan explains
    I’m a surgeon that has performed over 10,000 surgical procedures wearing a surgical mask. However, that fact alone doesn’t really qualify me as an expert on the matter. More importantly, I am a former editor of a medical journal. I know how to read the medical literature, distinguish good science from bad, and fact from fiction. Believe me, the medical literature is filled with bad fiction masquerading as medical science. It is very easy to be deceived by bad science.

    Since the beginning of the pandemic I’ve read hundreds of studies on the science of medical masks. Based on extensive review and analysis, there is no question in my mind that healthy people should not be wearing surgical or cloth masks. Nor should we be recommending universal masking of all members of the population. That recommendation is not supported by the highest level scientific evidence.

    First, let’s be clear. The premise that surgeon’s wearing masks serves as evidence that “masks must work to prevent viral transmission” is a logical fallacy that I would classify as an argument of false equivalence, or comparing “apples to oranges.”

    Although surgeons do wear masks to prevent their respiratory droplets from contaminating the surgical field and the exposed internal tissues of our surgical patients, that is about as far as the analogy extends. Obviously, surgeons cannot “socially distance” from their surgical patients (unless we use robotic surgical devices, in which case, I would definitely not wear a mask).

    The CoVID-19 pandemic is about viral transmission. Surgical and cloth masks do nothing to prevent viral transmission. We should all realize by now that face masks have never been shown to prevent or protect against viral transmission. Which is exactly why they have never been recommended for use during the seasonal flu outbreak, epidemics, or previous pandemics.

    The failure of the scientific literature to support medical masks for influenza and all other viruses, is also why Fauci, the US Surgeon General, the CDC, WHO, and pretty much every infectious disease expert on the planet stated that wearing masks won’t prevent transmission of SARS CoV-2. Although the public health “authorities” flipped, flopped, and later changed their recommendations, the science did not change, nor did new science appear that supported the wearing of masks in public. In fact, the most recent systemic analysis once again confirms that masks are ineffective in preventing the transmission of viruses like CoVID-19:

    https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/5/19-0994_article

    If a surgeon were sick, especially with a viral infection, they would not perform surgery as they know the virus would NOT be stopped by their surgical mask.

    Another area of “false equivalence” has to do with the environment in which the masks are worn. The environments in which surgeon’s wear masks minimize the adverse effects surgical masks on their wearers.

    Unlike the public wearing masks in the community, surgeon’s work in sterile surgical suites equipped with heavy duty air exchange systems that maintain positive pressures, exchange and filter the room air at a very high level, and increase the oxygen content of the room air. These conditions limit the negative effects of masks on the surgeon and operating room staff. And yet despite these extreme climate control conditions, clinically studies demonstrate the negative effects (lowering arterial oxygen and carbon dioxide re-breathing) of surgical masks on surgeon physiology and performance.

    Surgeon’s and operating room personnel are well trained, experienced, and meticulous about maintaining sterility. We only wear fresh sterile masks. We don the mask in a sterile fashion. We wear the mask for short periods of time and change it out at the first signs of the excessive moisture build up that we know degrades mask effectiveness and increases their negative effects. Surgeon’s NEVER re-use surgical masks, nor do we ever wear cloth masks.

    The public is being told to wear masks for which they have not been trained in the proper techniques. As a result, they are mishandling, frequently touching, and constantly reusing masks in a way that increase contamination and are more likely than not to increase transmission of disease.
    Basically we learned on day one in training that drippy snot or respiratory droplets getting into an open abdomen causes lethal infections quite soon.

    Now all of a sudden a flip flop and it’s sort of like after driving for 50 yrs and then ……
    “OK….just for this one particular busy intersection.. I’ll GO on red…and STOP on the green lights..” Really ??

    Jim Meehan, MD

    • That makes so much sense. I have had my oxygenation level checked twice in the past week due to a minor injury and both times it has been 95% which is very low for me since I am a healthy active person. It is usually 99% or above. I was quite concerned about this and after reading Dr. Meehan’s comment it makes me realize that the drop is most likely due to mask wearing prior to and at the time of the test.

  18. Every morning I see the on the streets of Anchorage homeless not wearing masks,,, not practicing social distancing and don’t have good personal hygiene Why are they not dying off in droves ? It seems that this virus would have have them littering the streets with bodies. A question nobody has yet to ask or answer .

    • Right! Many of us have asked the question; the problem is that those heady with power in our new medical dictatorship do not want anyone to talk about the pretty obvious answer.

  19. Wonder what prevents the simplest explanation from being the right one, an Occam’s Razor…
    .
    Government numbers just proved the government’s mandate accomplishes exactly nothing.
    .
    So what’s the point, if masks are known to be ineffectual?
    .
    Might be easier for emerging socialist governments to control restive populations by mandating fearmasks, for years if necessary, until wearing mandated symbols of unquestioning obedience becomes as much a part of accepted daily life as wearing any other article of clothing
    .
    … successfully re-educating a formerly free society in the ultimate separation of power: separation between Rulers and ruled.
    .
    Seems to be working, yes?

    • Sad to say, yes, it’s working like a well-oiled machine.
      All the people I talk to who understand that masks are ineffective, and know very well that it’s a power-play, had better put their concern about what people think of them behind them, and resist now, before it’s too late. Because that’s what it is – people are afraid of dirty looks. Sad!
      But I want them to know that I’ve had many people tell me that they look on people who refuse to bow to the fearmask edicts as heroes!

  20. Yesterday, I heard of a humorous commentary by two Amish men. They were walking down the road and one asked the other, “Why don’t we have the corona virus?”. The other said, “Simple. We don’t have TV’s”.

  21. I had COVID 19 in May. I love to tell people about it every chance I get. 56 years old with Asthma and I had hot and cold flashes for one afternoon. They get the strangest look on their face. I should be dead based on what the media tells them. Nope, I survived just fine as did 18 of my co workers. Not one hospital visit.

    • Yes, our whole family of 7 had it back in January. A family member works at the airport; the”flu” went through our house with all the usual array of covid symptoms: cough, fever, loss of smell, full-body aches, numb/tingling fingers, the whole nine yards. It even hit those of us that never get sick, so it was very infectious. Our family ranges from age 10 to 56 with asthma, heart disease and severe allergies in our family history. Some of us were done in a day (including the overweight 55-year-old), some had a dry cough for a couple of weeks. The end.
      Another friend works as an airplane mechanic and his shop hosted a mechanic from Wuhan, China – Yes! – in January, and the whole shop came down with a “flu.” Not one hospitalization.
      I have lost track of how many people have told me the same story.

  22. Mat-Su now going to require students (grades 3-12) and teachers to wear masks. Liberals. Replace the school board!

    • Mat-Su has no mask mandate… Yet they have not had a “spike” or “surge” even with *lots* of us Anchorage folks flocking there every weekend and many weekdays for shopping, entertainment and basic living as humans, which is getting near-impossible in Anchorage.

      Mat-Su’s highest case counts were 10 on July 1, and 12 on July 11; every other number, before and since, is in the single digits.
      No, it’s not a perfect experiment, but the data is pretty suggestive.

  23. ….and here I always thought our friends and fellow travelers of the liberal persuasion worshiped Darwin as a God and natural selection as their creed. I have not heard a peep from the over-population/safe the earth crowd lately. My theory is that our liberal friends exempt themselves, because they “care”. Yet when the “evil china flu” comes to town and the realization that they are not exempt from its grasp hits home, they demand that all others follow their radical edicts to keep their “caring” selves from any harm. Thus this extreme over-reaction and politicization of a medical problem. In my opinion the proof is in the pudding… Mat-Su caseload is manageable and the roaming homeless in Anchorage seem to be okay as well.
    We should get back to living, working and school. If you have health issues, wear a mask and keep your distance, wash your hands. Be responsible for yourself. Quarantining healthy people is completely counter-productive.

  24. If Suzanne wants truly to dive into research and data analysis, she will have to try to come up to a number (based on facts and available data) to how many cases there will be in Anchorage if there was no mask policy.

    It is easy to claim that mask doesn’t work, because the number of cases spikes, one can as easy says than mask works, and the number of cases is contained.

    As a simple (and multiple) counterexamples to Suzanne analysis, what about considering the multiple cities in Texas, Florida which doesn’t have a mask policy, and have a much higher number of COVID-19 cases. I will appreciate if Suzanne can (or more will) do some comparison with city in the Lower 48 which are of similar size, and do not have a mask policy.

  25. I am not sure why a virus needs to be a political issue…it is a human issue. My opinion is that we are not at capacity in our hospitals and at this time we are not dealing with RSV and influenza because it is not that season and we should look at herd immunity and perhaps this is the time to let it go because the shutdowns were never about stopping the virus it was about giving time to prevent overwhelming the healthcare system. I don’t agree with the mask mandates not because of political reasons but because it seems that in our state there is a direct connection between Anchorage mask mandates and an increase in cases in that area where as the other areas in the state that do not require masks and in my observation most people in those areas do not wear masks have kept their cases fairly low…which lead me to believe that the masks are placing people at higher risk of getting the virus. My opinion is that people do not wash their hands and are thinking that the masks prevent them from catching the virus and were more aware and careful prior to the mask mandates and if the goal was to reduce the spread by requiring masks it seems to have failed. If we truly want to reduce the spread then we should practice good hand hygiene, stay home when sick and cover our cough and sneeze just like we were taught in kindergarten. It seems to me people think wearing a mask replaced these simple kindergarten rules that have proven to work.

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