Subject: Re: Murthy vs Missouri , for the legal scholars
Masks are great for stopping you from sneezing all over someone else; they are not and never have been the panacea of disease protection.

I don't think anyone said they were. And, in fact, you stated their utility. They weren't meant to protect the wearer from everyone else. They were meant to protect everyone else from the wearer. But if you wear one also, you're protecting me (and everyone else) from you. And if everyone in a room is wearing them, they are all protecting each other. But I don't think anyone seriously said it was a panacea. It was a measure that could be taken against a virus that was airborne.

I agree, a lot of mask wearers sucked at wearing masks. I saw one woman who cut a hole in hers for her mouth. Others would only wear it over the mouth (or, more uselessly, on their chin). A lot of people simply refused.**

Now I see what you were saying about "location". For the record, New Mexico isn't that hot. Not compared to Arizona. Not even close, actually. We may be the same latitude, but AZ is routinely 10F (or more) hotter, at least the southern half of the state is (where most of the people are...Phoenix and Tucson). We are very hot, and very dry. Contrast with pretty much any other state in the sunbelt...not as hot, and more humid. Transmission via fomite in Phoenix in the spring and summer?? Probably not gonna happen. At least not outdoors. Our heat and UV kills almost everything that isn't protected. Including people (probably a few dozen every year).

The larger effect appears to be density. Urban areas have more people per square mile (or whatever unit you choose) than rural areas, and therefore a greater likelihood of spread. Lessening contact ("stay at home", "distancing", etc) probably had the biggest effect. It's how NYC was able to get control long before there was a vaccine available, and send the refrigerator trucks away. There may have been a climate contribution as well. I've seen speculation about that, but nothing really definitive.




**1poorkid was working in a sandwich shop at the time. The corporate policy was nobody allowed inside without a mask. But customers would argue with the employees about it as if the employees had any say in the matter. The employees weren't allowed to serve anyone not wearing a mask, even if they had to take them off to actually eat the food...yeah, that was a flaw in that plan.