Hawaii, which has had a very restrictive mask-mandate (indoors and outdoors) is getting hit by Delta at exactly the time you’d expect if you were looking at past trends.

The proof? – Hawaii’s largest previous spike happened in August of 2020, the exact month they are seeing a spike this year.

It’s not just Hawaii, though. Many midwestern states are now seeing the same trend play out. //

https://mobile.twitter.com/kylamb8/status/1426191289603792903/photo/1

Mask mandates are not working. The virus has its waves — regardless of whether a state has a mandate in place or not. That means that Florida, which has born the brunt of the criticism, is being largely vindicated. No mask mandate was going to magically fix their situation. If masks were effective, Hawaii, which is literally a group of islands in the middle of the ocean, wouldn’t be seeing their largest spike to date. //.

The correlation between mask mandates and spread does not exist. That may make the fact-checkers on social media uncomfortable, but the data is on my side, and all I can do is share that data. Anyone that doubts that COVID is seasonal and can’t be defeated by mask mandates can check back in three months. We will have seen the same spikes in the same states at around the same time, whether those states have a mask mandate or not.

The virus cannot be “crushed” from that perspective. It can only be managed by vaccinations, natural immunity, and a realization that certain segments of the population are just not statistically vulnerable. Getting the elderly, the obese, and those with other comorbidities vaccinated should be the priority, not making eight-year-olds mask up in school. Common sense needs to prevail.