Just saw someone in San Francisco wearing a surgical mask outside, and push the crosswalk button with their foot. At some point, we might have to discuss irrational phobia of unavoidable microbes, and the degree to which it was perpetuated by public health.
Dr. Vinay Prasad November 2023
Of course, I can read. Of course, I follow the news. I am perfectly aware of the headline that asked:
Why Are 1,500 Americans Still Dying From COVID Every Week?
However, I want to make you aware of a more serious, pressing issue: I saw a stranger wearing a mask, OUTSIDE! Did you know there’s no evidence to support this? The person who was wearing the mask outside was doing so for no good reason. I mean, did he really think he was going to get COVID from the fire hydrant? Was he worried he might spread it to a stop sign? Ridiculous. It gets worse that than. Recently, I tweeted about a cyclist who was wearing a mask outdoors in SF while riding his bicycle on JAN 17, 2024. I wrote an entire article on my monetized Substack berating this “utterly insane” cyclist, in which I posted his picture and asked:
Where is there ANY EVIDENCE that wearing TWO MASKS outside when you ride your bike improves ANY HEALTH OUTCOME??
Friends, this was a rhetorical question. There is NO EVIDENCE that wearing TWO MASKS outside when you ride your bike improves ANY HEALTH OUTCOME.
Throughout the pandemic, I have bravely tackled only the biggest challenges, while leaving the trivial 7-foot hoops to “skeptics” at Science Based Medicine. Yes, yes, yes I know that 1,500 lives were lost again to COVID this week. The same will be probably true next week. YAWN! I am on record as saying there are zero “smart people who still give a shit about COVID.” I stand by that.
While no one should “give a shit” about COVID, we should all care deeply about strangers who still “give a shit” about COVID. In contrast to those killed or injured by COVID, strangers who wear masks outside are a grave concern. Anyone with an “irrational phobia” of unavoidable microbes, according to my standards, needs to be publicly ridiculed and shamed over and over again. I’ve Tweeted about such strangers countless times and devoted several articles to them. I have no plans to stop. Mocking strangers who take excessive precautions against dangerous viruses or who have been injured by them, is the reason I went to medical school in the first place. Of course, I view any precaution as an excessive precaution. As I said previously, “Repeat infections are inevitable. More the longer you live. Nothing can be done about it.”
It’s true that I know nothing about the life of this mask-wearing stranger. It’s also true that, other than offending my delicate sensibilities, I can’t begin to explain how his actions hurt anyone. But the odds he benefited from his mask are zero. If a stranger wearing a mask outside isn’t a 10-foot hoop, I don’t know what is.