On ABC’s This Week, co-anchor Martha Raddatz invited Doctor Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy to discuss how the country should move forward in light of a federal court ruling that struck down the CDC’s federal mask mandate. Raddatz ended up just whining that Americans are done with the pandemic.
Osterholm told Raddatz that while he is in support of “respiratory protection”, the current policy of just requiring passengers to cover their face with any type of mask or face covering is tantamount to “just check[ing] a box.”
He explained that because “you have most people not wearing an N95, they’re wearing a face cloth covering or even a surgical mask which is not effective in reducing transmission.”
Further questioning the current mask policy, he noted how “if you're eating or drinking you don't have to have something on your face, and then finally about a quarter of all people wear it underneath their nose which is like closing only three of the five-screen doors on your submarine.” He then remarked that “what we want to do is stop talking about masking and talking about effective respiratory protection.”
Raddatz bemoaned that when she was on an airplane this week, “about a fifth of the people maybe had a mask on, the others seemed jubilant that they didn't have to wear a mask.”
Desperately wanting everyone to mask up again, she asked Osterholm: “how do you really return to that or advise people? They seem done with it!”
Osterholm was forced to break the bad news to Raddatz that “the U.S. public is done with the pandemic.” He also noted how the masking requirements have become a “philosophical and political issue, not a science issue” and rightly noted how “the media at the very outset is one of the problems” because “they keep talking about masks. That's like talking about the difference between a condom that’s intact and a condom that has a hundred holes in it.”
Raddatz whining that Americans are done with pandemic restrictions was made possible by lucrative sponsorships by CarFax & Fidelity. Their information is linked.
To read the relevant transcript of this segment, click “expand”:
ABC’s This Week
4/24/2022
9:20:27 p.m. EasternMARTHA RADDATZ: The overall mask mandate is totally confusing, especially this week, mandates lifted. Mandates returned, reinstated. Lifted again. You told "The New York Times" this week public health advice has been way off the mark. All along, about mask protection. So what do you see as the best guidance?
DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM (DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH & POLICY): Well, it is off. First of all, let me be really clear. I am very, very strongly supportive of respiratory protection. Someone can do a great deal to protect themselves and protect others if they're using an N95 respirator but this virus is transported by what we call aerosol, these very fine particles that float into the air. It’s like smoke, it's like perfume and you have to have a high-quality respiratory protection device to protect yourself. What happens on airplanes today, is really more just check a box, it is not effective. Why? Because first of all, you have most people not wearing an N95, they’re wearing a face cloth covering or even a surgical mask which is not effective in reducing transmission.
Then when you get on board, if you're eating or drinking you don't have to have something on your face, and then finally about a quarter of all people wear it underneath their nose which is like closing only three of the five-screen doors on your submarine. And so that from that perspective, it really isn't all that effective. And so I think that what we want to do is stop talking about masking and talking about effective respiratory protection.
RADDATZ: And how do you do that? You talk about flying. I flew across the country this week. About a fifth of the people maybe had a mask on, the others seemed jubilant that they didn't have to wear a mask. So how do you really return to that or advise people? They seem done with it!
OSTERHOLM: Well, first of all, the U.S. public is done with the pandemic. Even though the virus is not done with us and we have to recognize that in public health. You know, you can't swim against a tide of this magnitude so what is it that we can do? Well, we have to have credibility, and, again, what has happened has this has become really a philosophical and political issue, not a science issue. So in the media at the very outset is one of the problems. They keep talking about masks. That's like talking about the difference between a condom that’s intact and a condom that has a hundred holes in it. But it’s a condom! No, there is very different effectiveness using these different approaches so from my perspective I would say particularly if you're an immunocompromised individual, someone who’s at serious risk of illness and serious illness, you need to wear that N95 respirator. If everybody can do that they would keep it on through the duration of the flight, not wear it underneath their nose then that would be a very effective way to have a mandate but what we're doing now is we are literally just basically addressing a political issue, not a science issue.
