Chris Elliot Is Wrong On The Science About Face Masks And Travel
Travelers should never have masked, and there is no credible science defending the continued masking of anyone.
Below is a response to travel writer Chris Elliot’s anti-sciencey encouragement that travelers continue to stay masked.
Dear Chris,
Great drawing by Dustin !
The vast body of science on masks and respiratory viruses does not support any of these four claims cited below in your post “You Can Leave Your Mask On.”
But that doesn't mean you should take your mask off.
If you're immunocompromised or not vaccinated, you should seriously consider leaving your mask on.
If you're in a crowded space — indoors or outdoors — you might want to wear a face covering.
And yes, if you're on a long flight, you should consider keeping the mask on.
What the science indicates is that masks are harmful to the wearer. None of the four situations you list here are situations in which a mask would provide additional safety to a wearer or anyone around a wearer. The science is clear that it would be only a net negative to the wearer as well as those around the wearer.
Are you able to point to data that supports the claims above? If yes, would you please share that? I know the available data sets well enough to know such data is very unlikely to exist.
In my book “Face Masks Hurt Kids,” I sift through the last forty years of data on face masks and demonstrate how harmful the science shows face masks to be. This is not groundbreaking. It is well-established. There has been a political narrative and media narrative standing in the way of the data.
I do not believe it is proper for you to continue promoting masks when the science is abundantly clear on this topic. Masks are a net negative to the wearer and those around the wearer. They were a bad policy. That needs to be acknowledged by those who supported those policies and some apologies offered so society can move on. Right now society is stuck in needless contention over a bad policy that has zero scientific legitimacy. There were arguments to be made for that policy in April 2020 in the midst of confusion. The policy needs to end. There’s no way to continue to responsibly claim that masks are safe or effective.
A lot of people have feelings that the masks work, but those would only be feelings and the data contradicts those feelings.
While you may make your own decisions based on feelings or comfort, and are fully entitled to, making the medical claims above is not appropriate. The four groups above are harmed by following the suggestions you give. Silence is best if you are unsure of the science. At this point no one claiming a mask is safe and effective can claim a grasp of the science. Those are now thoroughly disproven claims and the travel industry and many other industries have been so badly harmed by those promoting those bad claims.
It’s March 2022, you have a platform and are a trusted consumer voice. Please consider how irresponsible it is at this point to use feelings as a basis for a harmful mandatory masking policies when the science is so clear about the ill being done by these policies. To continue to act the same way in the face of that realization is malice.
I’m sorry people pick on you in Arizona and Cape Town for wearing a mask. It is not necessary to pick on a person, and at the same time, I consider that an indication that those two places are not irreparably lost. One may take the tack that you have been undeservedly bullied. It’s worth recognizing that anyone who understands the sober science behind the harm done by masks would not let another human walk around in a mask another instant unchallenged. Rather than seeing the people of Arizona or Cape Town as bullies, I’d like you to consider it an honor that someone cared enough about you and also cared enough about their surroundings to ask you to stop spreading the lie that you spread when you wear a face mask.
The fear campaign is over. People get that. Covid wasn’t the Black Plague. People get that. The face mask is going to be thought of with as much embarrassment as the Bellamy Salute. People get that. It’s time for you to get that.
Respectfully,
Allan Stevo
Author, Face Masks Hurt Kids
For more like this on how to navigate life maskless, read the bestselling “Face Masks in One Lesson.”
For more on why that is so important to do, read “Face Masks Hurt Kids.”
And for hard hitting emails on this and more, sign up for Allan’s emails at RealStevo.com.