In what may be the first order of its kind, a mayor whose city has no reported coronavirus cases has ordered people not to wear masks.
Related: Biden Promised Us a Federal Mask Mandate – Would it Stand up In Court?
The mayor of the Italian town of Sutri north of Rome has established fines for wearing masks except when required by law, insisting that “only thieves and terrorists wear masks.”
The contrarian Italian parliamentarian Vittorio Sgarbi, who is also the mayor of Sutri, has been a vocal critic of mask-wearing and other restrictions imposed by the Italian government to address the coronavirus.
Mr. Sgarbi announced Saturday that in Sutri “anyone found wearing a face mask without need will be fined,” noting that there are no cases of coronavirus infection in the city.
Visibility and transparency seem to be at the heart of the order. People with their faces covered are difficult to identify, but that is not his only point. According to the report, Mayor Sgarbi thinks most mask-wearing has become ostentatious and ridiculous. We’d call it virus virtue signaling.
Rooms full of unmasked people eating and talking in restaurants have to mask when they get up or wear it before they sit. Silly.
There are numerous examples of how absurd it all is, so he’s banning mask-wearing unless there is a real medical need.
We’ve seen people wearing them outdoors, walking alone, or alone in their cars. In Sutri, this could get you fined.
I can’t say I agree with that for the same reason I object to fining someone for not wearing one, but you have to like his style.
Enough of this stupidity.
“In compliance with the decree of the President of the Council of Ministers, the use of the mask outdoors in the City of Sutri is prohibited for obvious health reasons and indoors except in the case of assemblies,” the city ordinance reads.
Okay, so it is not a total win. You may still need to wear a mask indoors for larger events, but they did include one critical element in their order. That wearing masks outside is bad for your health.
Excessive mask-wearing is not healthy though I don’t these dopey Americans will put aside the false-fears they’ve been fed and accept that.
We have the same problem with in-person schooling. The rest of the world is getting kids back to school, and we’re still dickering around with hybrid, remote, and distance learning.
Everyone else is moving on while we are stuck in the politics of the COVID19 swamp.
It’s time to get over it and move along.
