The government told us that we didn’t need to wear masks so most of us didn’t. Being friendly with a number of health professionals, I was told that there is not much point in wearing a mask anyway unless they are proper surgical masks and properly fitted. Their advice was to stick with the handwashing and social distancing.
So now the government is telling us all to stock up on masks, even though we do not have any cases of community transmission.
And now, guess what?
Mask manufacturers are receiving massive orders after the government says people will be encouraged to wear them if the country returns to Alert Level 2.
In new guidance everyone has been urged to have masks ready in case of a second wave of Covid-19, by the director-general of health Ashley Bloomfield.
The move comes after months of advice from New Zealand officials saying there wasn’t enough evidence for the value of masks being worn widely in public. But as of yesterday Health Minister Chris Hipkins joined the call for households to buy them and keep them ready in case they are needed.
“The Ministry is now recommending that as part of our collective preparations for any future outbreak of Covid-19 households add sufficient masks for everybody normally resident in the household to the emergency supply kits.”
So, although we have no cases other than in quarantine, we have no evidence of community transmission and we got through Level 4 without masks now we have to have them?
And sure enough, we all behave like sheep and do what we are told.
Christchurch company Earth Sea Sky supplies masks that fit that brief.
During lockdown the business converted their clothing workshop to focus on making masks.
Co-owner Jane Ellis said since the government announcement they’ve been getting up to 120 orders an hour.
“All I can say is that if I go in and look where dispatch is, usually out of the printer you print out the dispatch labels and they might go from the printer to the floor – well they are going round and round the room at the moment.
Are people really that stupid? Do they really trust a government that has no election policies except fear? Is that really what we have been reduced to in this country?
But maybe we should take a few deep breaths before rushing off to the pharmacy to stock up on masks.
Hundreds of different types of face masks have been withdrawn from Australia’s register of therapeutic goods and the regulator has started a mass audit of the equipment amid concerns that some may not adequately prevent infection.
As of Thursday, 286 types of mask had been removed from the register as part of a post-market review triggered by concerns that many masks do not meet regulatory standards and, if used in medical environments, may increase disease spread.
The TGA said of one supplier that the “single use surgical masks have not provided sufficient evidence to show compliance … Continued use of these particular surgical masks may increase the risk of spreading infections (including Covid-19) between individuals.”
So people will be rushing out and buying masks that might actually increase the spread of the disease? Wow. Great advice, Doctor Bloomfield.
But there is just one thing. I know someone who came out of quarantine in an Auckland hotel a couple of weeks ago. He had the required tests on Day 3 and Day 12 but was intermingling with people at all stages of their quarantine throughout his stay. Just to clarify, on Day 13, he was intermingling with people who were on Day 2 of their quarantine, and were, so far, untested.
Does that sound like a recipe for community transmission to you? Because it certainly does to me.
Not all of the experts are convinced of the value of wearing masks anyway, as this article from CIDRAP demonstrates. They are good for medical professionals, who have high grade masks and breathing equipment, and are paired with visors, but for ordinary individuals, there is considerable disagreement about the effectiveness of masks.
But the fact is that the government is doing one of two things. Either they are aware of the significant risk of community transmission through inadequate controls at the border, or they are hoping that the physical wearing of masks by more people will put us all back into a state of fear. This is their election winning strategy; let’s face it, they have no other plan.
But if they have in fact allowed community transmission by improper controls at the border, then they deserve the wrath of the people to fall on them. New Zealanders did what they were told and stayed home, observed good hygiene and physical distancing and eliminated the virus. All the government had to do after that was to control the border. By allowing infected people in quarantine to mingle with non-infected people, they may have failed us. This would hardly be a surprise. They have failed at everything else.
But this time, if we are expected to go back into lockdown, the effects will be catastrophic. The economy, already struggling, will be in total meltdown. And this hopeless government will be the ones responsible. They and no one else.
But the sheep will do as they are told. Because that is what good little sheep do.
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