Virtue-signalling is the neologism used to describe the behaviour of people who strive to ostentatiously flag their supposed good deeds while effectively doing nothing. Or worse, doing actual harm. The whole point of virtue-signalling is not to do anything useful but to just show off how much more moral you are than everyone else.
It’s not a new concept: the Gospels warned against the hypocrites who literally trumpeted their charity, “in order that their praises may be sung by men”. More recently, Seinfeld parodied “ribbon bullies”. Then there’s the inevitable rush to plaster social media profiles with badges and stickers to show how much people “care” about the latest disaster.
Wearing a mask in public is the virtue-signal of the COVID era – and they’re just as useless as any virtue-signal.
The University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy’s advice is unequivocal:
We do not recommend requiring the general public who do not have symptoms of COVID-19-like illness to routinely wear cloth or surgical masks because:
• There is no scientific evidence they are effective in reducing the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission
• Their use may result in those wearing the masks to relax other distancing efforts because they have a sense of protection
• We need to preserve the supply of surgical masks for at-risk healthcare workers.
The last is particularly important. On the heels of the Great TP Panic of February 2020, supplies of masks were stripped from shelves. The shortage was deepened by China’s stealthy global pillage of medical supplies. Frontline medical workers suddenly found themselves without much-needed PPE. Even tradies had trouble getting hold of simple dust masks.
But still, the busybodies, virtue-signallers and politicians desperate to be seen to be doing ‘something’ keep on touting mask-wearing.
In fact, the mask-bullies can make things worse. My wife, who uses masks in clinical settings, shakes her head at idiots wearing masks in supermarkets. She points out how they are constantly touching their faces to readjust masks they don’t know how to even fit properly. Then they handle objects on the shelves.
A friend who works on the road has noticed workers at drive-through takeaways wearing masks and gloves, while they handle cash and pass out beverage containers held by the cup rim.
All they’re doing is spreading germs between their faces and the environment and passing them back and forth. But they’re safe because they’re wearing a mask!
Masks[…]give people a false sense of security. If masks had been the solution in Asia, shouldn’t they have stopped the pandemic before it spread elsewhere?
Then there’s the waste. There are many reports of discarded masks and gloves littering streets and car parks. This isn’t just a biohazard, all that crap will surely end up in the ocean.
Meanwhile, the Daily Mail is claiming that Austria “seemingly managed to reverse its crisis by making masks compulsory on April 6, following a spike in infections in late March”. This is frankly garbage. Austria’s daily infections had been falling sharply for a fortnight before its mask decree, with no noticeable change in the trend thereafter.
Besides, it might pay to remember what happened the last time an Austrian decreed wearing a public symbol.
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