Covid-19 disease is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, one of 7 coronaviruses that infect humans. Most infections cause mild to moderate cough, congestion and fever. [1] A smaller percent of people infected with Covid-19 develop life threatening illness.
Like all viruses, Sars-CoV-2 is a tiny, lifeless particle. These particles are about 1,000 times smaller in diameter than the cross section of a human hair. And 500 times smaller than the dust particles that become visible when sunlight shines through a window. [2]
The virus can be seen if it is magnified millions of times. The image below shows a color-enhanced photo of the Sars CoV-2 particle, taken with an electron microscope. It shows the main compartment containing RNA (in orange) and the red “crown” of spike proteins on the outside. [3] Scientists say the virus measures about 100 nanometers in diameter. [4]
The image below shows tiny dark virus particles (circled in red) infecting a cell (cell cytoplasm, in yellow). [5]
On June 24, 2020, Governor Inslee issued a proclamation that mandated masks be worn by everyone when outside their home. This was supposed to protect us from transmitting or becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2.[6] But did masks have any effect on preventing transmission or infection? The answer is no.
The first issue with the mask is the huge pore size of the material used in making the mask. According to the Journal of Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management, [7] the pores in a surgical mask have an average diameter of 19,290 nanometers. Sars-CoV-2 is about 100 nanometers diameter. This size difference renders the mask material useless.
A second issue is that surgical and cloth masks are not fitted or sealed to a person’s face and will form gaps around the edges. Air and virus easily flow through these gaps. [8]
Considering these two mask limitations, the filtration effect of masks is zero.
What about the effectiveness of mask mandates? The graph below shows Covid-19 cases in the eleven US states that never mandated masks versus the 39 states that enforced mandates. The black line shows the weekly Covid rate in states with mask mandates and the orange line shows the rate in the states without mandates. The curves are nearly identical. It is clear that mask mandates made no difference nation-wide. [9]
So, how effective have mask mandates been in Washington State? The following graph is from the WA DOH dashboard. [10] and shows the Covid-19 case numbers in the state from 2020 to present. Black arrows were superimposed to show dates for mask mandates. [11] Large surges of Covid-19 occurred during the winter months of 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, while mask mandates were in effect. Mask mandates had little effect on Covid-19 case numbers in our state either.
Our government and health agencies were supposedly following the science. It is clear that they were not paying attention to their own data. So what science were they actually following?