Biggs offers ‘proof’ that face masks don’t work
That well-known infectious disease expert Rep. Andy Biggs is at it again.
This time, he has proof — proof, I tell you — that wearing a mask does nothing to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Forget the recommendations of all the experts on infectious disease. When it comes to protecting public health, Biggs is the guy to listen to.
In fact, by his logic, it appears face coverings might even be to blame for the spread of this highly contagious, potentially fatal virus. (Or here in the real world, not).
So what, you ask, is Biggs’ proof that masks are useless in slowing the spread of COVID-19?
Well, it seems he has figured out that Maricopa County had only 35,689 confirmed cases of COVID-19 from Jan. 26, 2020, the date the novel coronavirus was first found in Arizona, until June 19, when the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors imposed a mask mandate.
But in the eight months since masks were mandated, the county has seen 417,009 cases of COVID-19.
Oh, but there’s more.
In the nearly five months before we were required to wear masks in public, Biggs notes that just 2,152 Maricopa County residents were hospitalized for COVID-19. But in the eight months since masks were mandated, 26,866 people have been hospitalized.
Then there’s this:
Pre-mask, 736 Maricopa County residents died as a result of contracting COVID-19. But once we covered our faces, 6,149 people died.
“Since Maricopa County instituted its masks mandate last year, we’ve seen almost 12x the number of cases; almost 10x the number of hospitalizations; and 9x the number of deaths compared to the time before the mandate,” Biggs tweeted on Tuesday. “Masks do not slow or stop the spread of COVID-19.”
Yep, that’s really his conclusion. His logic (if you can call it that) assumes a couple of things:
1. That people like him have actually been responsible about wearing masks while around other people.
2. That the number of sick and dead wouldn’t have been higher had we all lived in Andy’s world, free from facial tyranny.
3. That he has even the slightest clue what he is talking about.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, the Mayo Clinic and virtually every public health expert and agency have advised that masks can help slow the spread of COVID-19.
It’s not a government plot to steal your freedom, Rep. Biggs. It’s a plea for people to act responsibly, to try to save at least a few people who need not die
if only those around them act like grown-ups.
The fact that a United States congressman, even one from Arizona, would spread such rubbish and continue acting like a crybaby because he has to cover his snout until we get this nightmare behind us? Well, it’s astounding, really.
Especially, since we all know the real problem here.
Taking a page from the congressman’s book of scientific theory, I note that before Andy Biggs was elected to Congress, we never had a problem with COVID-19.
Since his election, however, the state has had 801,055 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 15,063 Arizonans have died.
Ipso facto, Biggs must be the reason we have COVID-19.
I know. Makes total sense, right?