Joe Biden. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 10:05 AM PT – Sunday, February 14, 2021
Nearly a year into the pandemic and even for the vaccinated, face masks don’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. Joe Biden visited the National Institute of Health last week and backtracked on his words.
In a mask-muffled press conference, Biden changed his recommendation. He said Americans should cover their faces for the rest of the year after suggesting “100 days of use” just two months ago.
During the event, Biden claimed “wearing this mask through the next year can save lives.” Instead of using scientific evidence to back his mask advice, Biden appealed to American patriotism for compliance.
Joe Biden speaks, flanked by White House Chief Medical Adviser on Covid-19 Dr. Anthony Fauci (R), during a visit to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, February 11, 2021. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
“We’re in the middle of a war with this virus,” Biden stated. “It’s a patriotic responsibility!”
Despite the widespread use of face coverings, Biden lamented 100,000 deaths and still said masks save lives. Meanwhile, some believe masks actually serve a different purpose.
“To me this is just psychological warfare,” Winthrop, Massachusetts resident Lauren Craig said. “The virus has a 99.98 chance of recovery rate so we’re going to lock down the whole society, for something that has a 99.98 chance of recovery rate?”
In the meantime, data experts failed to find evidence linking mask usage with the reduced viral transmission.
“You would see a lower case rate there and that’s not the case at all, there is no correlation, and that’s from my data perspective,” data expert Justin Hart stated. “Zero correlation between the wearing of masks and the decrease in cases and deaths.”
Critics pointed out that government health suggestions need scientific proof and should be optional instead of mandatory. For some, wearing a mask can be traumatic and stifling.
“There is a downside to masks,” Former New York Times columnist Alex Berenson said. “You know, they can frighten little kids, they can frighten people with disabilities and some people just don’t like wearing them. I think before you take away people’s freedoms you need to have much better evidence than we have.”
Americans hoping to hold Biden to his word shouldn’t hold their breath because mask mandates could be here to stay.
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