The American summer of 2020 was marked by riots, many of which — night after night all season — took place in Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. Film of the many riots shows that many of the participants were not wearing the masks —which were de rigueur that summer — unless, of course, they were planning on doing some post-riot “shopping,” in which case the masks would lend them much needed anonymity.
(Eighteen months later, the masks are no longer legally required but still strongly recommended by public officials. I thought Gov. Janet Mills looked rather absurd wearing one while delivering her State of the State address the other night.)
After the longest NFL season in history, Super-Duper Bowl LVI is behind us. At all of the games during the season and during the playoff games the stands have been full, meaning approximately 60,000 people standing right next to each other for at least three hours, the vast majority of them sans masks. Given that and given the proximity of the rioters to each other in the summer of 2020 one would certainly expect serious outbreaks of the virus to follow such occasions.
Have there been any such outbreaks? No.
Which begs the question — what good are the masks?
Terence McManus, New Sharon
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