CDC Spies a Problem, Provides a Solution

I really, really urge people to understand data within context. The Governor did not, but the largest cities DID require a mask. So the premise of ND vs. SD having a similar outbreak with different mask policies is a flawed position. State demographics play a role too.

"While Gov. Kristi Noem never issued any state-wide business restrictions, lockdowns or mask mandates, many cities and counties in South Dakota did.

Sioux Falls, for example, requires masks be worn in indoor places of business when social distancing guidelines can't be adhered to, a policy that Pischke says oppresses people's freedom of expression outlined in the First Amendment. And early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, city councilors temporarily adopted rules limiting the many customer-interfacing businesses to no more than 10 patrons.

Similar measures were taken in other cities like Rapid City, Huron, Mitchell and Brookings. And lockdowns requiring people to stay in their homes were issued on some Indian reservations in the state"

It will be at least 5 years until we can get to the point of a peer-reviewed study on the effectiveness of the mask at reducing the spread. It won't STOP the spread, but it is another layer of protection. The largest cities by population required it, and will skew this comparison.

Take your automobile: ABS system, windshield (which structurally supports the roof AND "gives" during a head impact slightly), seatbelt, airbag, traffic engineering improvements...any one of them alone may not help avoid a adverse event. But when they operate together AS A SYSTEM where they compliment each other, you start to achieve a real reduction in deaths/severe injury crashes which can be seen in the traffic deaths over the last 40 years.

So, I don't like the mask. It's not for me, but for everyone else. When it operates AS A SYSTEM with social distancing, hand sanitizer, testing...it all starts to work together. And I wish we all would too.