Minnesota State Senator and Medical Doctor Scott Jensen says that surgical and cotton masks cannot filter COVID-19 from the air.
The New York Times recently blasted Jensen as well as President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence for not wearing a mask in public at all times amidst the coronavirus pandemic. However, Jensen says that even the best medical masks are insufficient to prevent the transmission of the COVID-19.
“Presently studies reveal that COVID-19 particles require an electron microscope to be seen and are readily transmitted through cotton and surgical masks,” Jensen told Alpha News in an email. “Guilt trips do nothing to reduce this disease,” he added.
“Surgical and cotton masks can filter particle sizes of 5 microns or more. COVID-19 particles are 50 times smaller,” according to the senator. While he did note that N95 masks provide better filtration that may actually stop the virus, they do nothing to protect the user’s eyes, which “indeed serve as a portal of entry for disease.”
“I understand that people want to do something, anything, they can do to help not spread COVID-19, but science should not be sacrificed at the altar of panic,” Jensen concluded. “If data comes forward showing that the previous recommendations of Dr. Osterholm and Dr. Fauci are faulty, I will be glad to reconsider my position,” he said, apparently alluding to previous statements made by health officials that recommend the public forgo mask use.
Ironically, the New York Times itself published recommendations from several medical experts that the average American should not wear a mask prior to criticizing Jensen and Trump for not masking up, per Newsbusters.
Other legacy media outlets have also clearly instructed the public not to wear masks, warning that doing so is more likely to cause mass hysteria than do anything to quell the coronavirus pandemic.
“Seeing people around you wearing masks when you’re not can also heighten anxiety about coronavirus and make it seem like the virus is nearby and spreading, even if it’s not,” wrote Mandy Oaklander, a senior editor for Time, back in March. However that very article has since received an addendum noting that the CDC has now “advised Americans to wear non-medical cloth face coverings, including homemade coverings fashioned from household items, in public settings like grocery stores and pharmacies.”
Given that masks “fashioned from household items” are not able to stop the spread of coronavirus and that experts have already warned that mass use of ineffective masks may drive hysteria, some skeptics have questioned if this new recommendation is actually intended to drive the public anxiety.
These individuals have been deemed conspiracy theorists by the mainstream media.
Kyle Hooten
Kyle Hooten is Managing Editor of Alpha News. His coverage of Minneapolis has been featured on television shows like Tucker Carlson Tonight and in print media outlets like the Wall Street Journal.
