Over the past weekend, the Mayor of San Fran and the Governor of California were clear—they wanted the 49’ers to go to the Super Bowl. As celebrities they took the time to get their photos taken with other celebrities—all without a mask. These scam artists want our kids to wear diapers on their faces, breathe bad air—and then get in trouble if they refuse to do something so stupid. At what point do the children and adults tell government to stop abusing us?
“Picture-taking is not a valid reason to remove masks per the county’s health order, and one cannot reasonably believe that Newsom, Breed, Garcetti and Johnson were diligently masking in the luxury box while not eating, drinking and taking photos.
Predictably, images of the maskless politicians sparked outrage among parents calling attention to the fact that the state and various localities are enforcing some of the toughest school mask mandates in the country. School mask mandates have come under increased scrutiny in recent weeks, with critics questioning the cost-benefit analysis of such restrictions on a population generally at very low risk of severe disease from COVID-19.”
If Gavin Newsom and London Breed aren’t afraid of omicron, why should everyone else be?
SFGATE politics editor Eric Ting on how revealing Gavin Newsom and London Breed’s latest COVID misstep is
Eric Ting, SFGATE, 1/31/22
California politicians have had a difficult time following COVID-19 restrictions written by an unelected public health apparatus they have willingly empowered and been afraid to challenge publicly.
Gov. Gavin Newsom likely does not face last year’s recall election without the French Laundry fiasco. San Francisco Mayor London Breed has violated her city’s mask mandate on multiple occasions. On Sunday, both politicians — along with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti — were photographed posing maskless for photos with Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson at a luxury box at the NFC Championship Game at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
While SoFi Stadium, which has a roof, has been classified as an “outdoor venue,” meaning the current statewide indoor mask mandate does not apply, Los Angeles County has a separate mask mandate for “outdoor mega events” with more than 5,000 attendees, where masks can only be removed while “actively eating and drinking.”
Picture-taking is not a valid reason to remove masks per the county’s health order, and one cannot reasonably believe that Newsom, Breed, Garcetti and Johnson were diligently masking in the luxury box while not eating, drinking and taking photos.
Predictably, images of the maskless politicians sparked outrage among parents calling attention to the fact that the state and various localities are enforcing some of the toughest school mask mandates in the country. School mask mandates have come under increased scrutiny in recent weeks, with critics questioning the cost-benefit analysis of such restrictions on a population generally at very low risk of severe disease from COVID-19.
The parent complaints are valid, and the incident seems to underscore the current reality of the pandemic: Many Californians — including, evidently, some of its most visible leaders — are just not very afraid of COVID-19 anymore and want to move on.
you are vaccinated, you are at very minimal risk of severe disease from COVID-19 — especially from the omicron variant, which evidence shows is more mild than past strains (California, which is 69% fully vaccinated, saw record-high cases during the omicron wave, but fewer hospitalizations than last winter). Newsom, Breed and Garcetti are all vaccinated and presumably boosted, and thus did not act irrationally by ditching their masks to enjoy what was a very entertaining NFC Championship Game, Jimmy Garoppolo fourth quarter ineptitude notwithstanding.
Breed has critiqued her city’s mask mandate before, but Democratic politicians have often seemed afraid to directly challenge health officials because in heavily Democratic areas, raising questions over COVID-19 policy can get an individual labeled a Trump supporter, anti-vaxxer, science-denier and the like.
What hyper-cautious constituents who want to “follow the science” and allow public health bureaucrats to continue writing policy often miss is the extreme risk aversion of the public health apparatus. Per official Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, an individual should never consume cookie dough, never eat medium rare steak and limit themselves to one or two alcoholic beverages per sitting.
None of these guidelines get implemented into public policy, and the CDC and health experts are likely never going to tell individuals they can safely stop wearing masks. Experts say COVID-19 will never be extinguished and will become an endemic virus, so if you’re waiting for a green light from health officials to lose your mask, you’re going to be masking for quite some time.
Recently, California health officials and politicians have signaled a coming shift to managing an endemic virus where individuals must weigh their own risk tolerance and make decisions accordingly. Some individuals, like children under five, cannot be vaccinated, and the risk remains higher for those with underlying health conditions. Health experts note that the risk COVID-19 poses to children under five is minimal, and well below the threat posed to children by diseases such as respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, which has never prompted societal interventions such as mask mandates. For immunocompromised individuals, there’s increasing evidence that one-way masking with higher quality masks will provide the wearer with strong protection against infection.
Sunday’s SoFi incident has demonstrated that Newsom, Breed and Garcetti have already gauged their risk tolerances, (correctly) determined they’re at minimal risk of a bad outcome from COVID-19, and decided to go maskless and live their lives.
When will the rest of the state have that luxury?
