Time for a Fact Check!
Actually, this will be a double Fact Check.
I’ll give you my Fact Check and then I’ll give you the USA Today “Fact Check” and I’ll let you decide which one makes sense.
You know a whole bunch of mothers over the years have told their children: “if you just tell the truth all the time, you won’t have to remember when you were lying.”
Makes things so much easier.
Someone should have told the CDC.
Because it seems as though they just got caught in a WHOPPER!
You might have seen this image floating around:
So let me break a couple things down…
First of all, I can’t find that exact Tweet.
Perhaps it was deleted.
Perhaps it was from an account I can’t find.
In any event, the USA Today “Fact Checkers” seem to admit the Tweet was real because they provided their own Fact-Check, which we’ll get to in a moment.
But the message is clear….
You have the CDC telling us “ignorant masses” that wearing a cloth mask will not protect you from wildfires.
Oh how ironic!
The only problem?
That very same CDC just spent 3 years telling us we had to wear face diapers to protect against Coronavirus — and per the image above which I have checked and does appear to be accurate — Coronavirus is about 5 times smaller that a typical wildfire smoke molecule.
In other words?
If it can’t stop smoke, it ain’t stopping COVID!
OOPS!
And while I couldn’t find that exact Tweet, I did find this one:
If you’re returning home after a #wildfire, remember that ash and dust can be harmful to your health. Wear protective clothing, such as long-sleeved shirts, long pants, goggles, and work gloves. Keep children away from debris.
Learn more: https://t.co/yGrpKN6ASU #Maui pic.twitter.com/XJduNt9HNU
— CDC Environment (@CDCEnvironment) August 17, 2023
Many immediately commented that they seem to have “forgotten” to tell us to wear masks:
Seems like the @CDC forgot to remind you to protect your lungs! So please don't forget:
a) Masks – If there are smoke particles in the air an N95 will help 👇🏼
b) Put a HEPA air purifier at home – with ⬆️smoke particles/dust in the air, purifiers may help.
#ProtectYourLungs https://t.co/JoyXrX0gQc— Naftali Kaminski (@KaminskiMed) August 19, 2023
I also found this from CDC.gov:
Wildfires leave behind a lot of ash [PDF – 835 KB] that can irritate your eyes, nose, or skin and cause coughing and other health effects.
- Children and people with asthma, COPD, heart disease, or who are pregnant need to be especially careful about breathing wildfire smoke.
- Protect yourself against ash when you clean up. Wear gloves, long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and shoes and socks to protect your skin. Wear goggles to protect your eyes.
- Wash off any ash that gets on your skin or in your eyes or mouth as soon as you can.
- Children should not do any cleanup work.
- Limit how much ash you breathe in by wearing an N95 respirator [PDF – 329 KB]. A respirator is a mask that fits tightly to your face to filter out ash before you can breathe it in. You must wear a respirator correctly [PDF – 2.7 MB]. Respirators are not made to fit children. If you have heart or lung disease ask your doctor if it is safe for you to wear a respirator.
- Pay attention to any health symptoms if you or your children have asthma, COPD, heart disease, or are pregnant. Get to medical help if you need it.
- After a wildfire, private wells can be contaminated and unsafe to use for drinking water and other purposes. Learn about potential solutions.
Pay particular attention to the bold part — the only type of mask that will stop smoke is an N95.
The face diaper?
Worthless.
And again, smoke is 5x larger than a Coronavirus particle.
So if it can’t stop smoke, it can’t stop Corona.
OOPSIES!
RedState also noticed the huge error in “science” coming from the CDC:
Remember that “science” that they always like to throw in the face of conservatives? Let’s take a quick look at this info through the lens of actual science. They just told us that smoke particulates are too small to be stopped by a cloth mask. While N95 masks will protect up to 95% of particles, down to .1 microns in size. A quick Google search will tell us that smoke particles and debris are usually .4 to .7 microns in size. According to the CDC, cloth masks are not effective in stopping materials that size.
Another quick Google search will tell us that the Wuhan Virus is .12 microns in size, about a quarter in size of the smoke and fire debris particulate. Even if we factor for the “respiratory droplets” that are allegedly to blame for the spread of coronavirus, those droplets are as small as .5 microns, or as small or smaller than smoke and fire debris particulate. These factors and figures aren’t hidden in some CDC vault that only their scientists are capable of accessing. Yet another quick Google search will show these figures within seconds.
The CDC cannot, on one hand, demand we wear masks because of the prevention of the spread of a disease (or droplets containing the disease) and then tell us that those same masks are ineffective in stopping particles that are bigger than the disease we are trying to prevent.
Should you wear a mask while in public places? Yes, if anything to keep the maskholes in check. Are they effective? The CDC doesn’t seem to think so.
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Ok, so that seems pretty open and shut, but hold up — here comes the USA Today with a “Fact Check” to explain to use why what appears plainly obvious cannot possibly be correct…
Fact check: Cloth masks ineffective against wildfire smoke, still slow spread of COVID-19 https://t.co/P9Lu3xheLi via @usatoday
— I DISSENT @theLadyArcher77 🏹 (@TheLadyArcher77) September 16, 2020
I have read the USA Today “Fact Check” several times and they sure do use a lot of words but I can’t quite figure out any coherent message they are trying to get across.
It’s just a bunch of jibberish — if you ask me.
Maybe you are smarter than me.
In the interest of fair and open reporting, I’m going to give you the ENTIRE USA Today Fact Check so you can read it for yourself — let me know what you think:
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