Why would you judge how often everyone wears masks by the small percentage you see at rallies? I suspect you're wrong. As a matter of fact I know you're wrong. Why preach unity to us with a divisive negative attitude?
<modsnip: Quoted post was removed> If I have my students watch a rally, right now, the first they notice is whether people are wearing masks.
Then, there's the "example" or "role model" idea - we put out into the world what we wish for others to do. So, if I show up in public without a mask (and I want people to wear them), I'm being a poor role model. TBH, I think maybe I go in the other direction (good mask, sometimes also a gaiter, sunglasses or goggles) because, well, I'm very interested in public health. I don't expect people to judge me. But I do hope that some people will be inspired to get over their self-consciousness about masks.
There are various objective studies of who is wearing a mask and who isn't, with both random and non-random samples. As Dr. Birx said, ND was very very low in wearing masks (and lo and behold, their positivity rates are so high and so many people have been exposed multiple times - that ND is providing experiential data about Covid reinfection).
People who had Covid back in March are getting it again and writing/tweeting/blogging about it. In ND. Many of them thought they were immune, but now we may start getting some figures about reinfection. To have it count for reinfection, the person has to test positive for live virions, then have two negative tests, then test positive later. For many, that seems to be coming at the 6 month mark (which correlates with the drop in antigens...the studies we need of these people would have to do with a different kind of immunity - but sadly, ND is in no state of preparedness to do that research just yet). ND needs help with this, surely.
But anyway, some people who don't wear masks may think they are now immune. And they may be - we just don't know yet how many will get it a second time. Let's say 10% (and so far, the reports I've read say that these people had a mild case first, and now a moderate-to-severe case).
ND has one of the worst track records (according to observational studies) of mask wearing, so we are able to study these issues there - if we can get our acts together to do so. We can also see that their rates are sky-rocketing. Why they are not wearing masks is a question I can't answer.
At any rate, some places have less mask use and higher Covid - not being judgmental, just stating a fact. It seems to be one of the main variables in trying to predict Covid transmission (whether people wear masks and use them properly). Social distancing is a second variable we can observe. Rallies and protests often forego adequate social distances, so wearing a mask is even more important.
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