As US coronavirus cases dramatically shoot up to the highest peak yet in the pandemic, prominent public health experts are calling for a nationwide mandate to wear masks to try to drag down disease spread.
The call comes as violent clashes over masks continue in places that already have face-covering requirements.
Fauci noted that, according to data from countries better off than the US, masking and other "low-tech" efforts, such as physical distancing and avoiding crowds, are effective at controlling the virus. "There's no doubt," he said. "It makes a difference."
Fauci also addressed concerns about future lockdowns. The idea is almost "radioactive" now, Fauci said. "Well, If you don't want to shut down, at least do the fundamental, basic things," he said.
a shoe-store security guard in Chicago was stabbed 27 times after asking two sisters to put on masks and use store-provided hand sanitizer. Illinois has a statewide mandate to wear masks in public and while working.
The attack, which was caught on surveillance cameras, occurred after the sisters refused the public health measures and the guard asked them to leave. They allegedly hurled a trash can at his head, stabbed him repeatedly with a "comb knife" in the back, neck, and arms, and also kicked him in the head and body. The guard broke free and was able to keep the pair in the store until police arrived.
Police arrested the sisters, who are being held without bond on charges of first-degree attempted murder. The guard was transported to a local hospital where police said he was in critical condition, according to The Washington Post.
The stunning attack on the security guard is just the latest in a string of violent encounters over masks, The Washington Post notes. In September, an 80-year-old man died of blunt force trauma to the head after being shoved by a maskless man during a dispute over masks in a New York bar. In August, a Michigan man died after being stabbed by another customer at a Quality Dairy store, who refused to wear a mask when confronted by a grocery store employee.
In July, police in California charged a grocery-store security guard and his wife with murder after a fight with a maskless customer. The same month, a maskless woman in New Jersey broke another woman's leg at a Staples during a mask altercation. And in May, the security guard of a Family Dollar store in Michigan was killed after telling a customer that her child had to wear a mask to enter the store.
As experts call for nationwide mask mandate, anti-maskers stab guard 27 times
“We’re not in a good place,” Fauci notes.
arstechnica.com
