Mask Free Onondaga County, NY

May 2021 J. Ryan McMahon, II County Executive County of Onondaga Office of the County Executive John H. Mulroy Civic Center, 14th Floor Syracuse, NY 13202

Dear Mr. McMahon, We as county residents are respectfully asking you to remove the mask mandate for the residents and businesses of Onondaga County.
In your position as the County Executive, you have responsibility for the welfare of the citizens of the county. We are now over a year into what has plagued this country and the world and are learning the truth that while many measures were taken in good faith for the welfare of the population, many of these measures have turned out not to be of significant help in abating the virus and have, in fact, been detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the individual. As the science clearly shows mandatory mask wearing falls into this category.
There are many studies that we can site that will back this up, but we would like to highlight the conclusion by Baruch Vainshelboim from Stanford University in his paper “Facemasks in the COVID-19 era: A health hypothesis” (Jan 2021). “The existing scientific evidences challenge the safety and efficacy of wearing facemask as preventive intervention for COVID-19. The data suggest that both medical and non-medical facemasks are ineffective to block human-to-human transmissions of viral and infectious disease such SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, supporting against the usage of facemasks. Wearing facemasks has been demonstrated to have substantial adverse physiological and psychological effects. These include hypoxia, hypercapnia, shortness of breath, increased acidity and toxicity, activation of fear and stress response, rise in stress hormones, immunosuppression, fatigue, headaches, decline in cognitive performance, predisposition for viral and infectious illnesses, chronic stress, anxiety and depression. Long-term consequences of wearing facemask can cause health deterioration, developing and progression of chronic diseases and premature death…” This conclusion clearly gives an explanation as to why those who wore the masks religiously still became ill. This is also an explanation as to why the CDC’s own data is showing that those states that are fully opened, such as Texas and Florida, are reporting much lower numbers than those which are closed, as in New York State. It is unconscionable that a government within the United States of America can make it mandatory to do something that is harmful to the individual and is proven not to protect our neighbor. This same study states that the “Due to the difference in sizes between SARS-CoV-2 diameter and facemasks thread diameter (the virus is 1000 times smaller), SARS-CoV-2 can easily pass through any facemask”. A prominent doctor against masking has compared a mask stopping the virus as a chain linked fence stopping sand thrown at it. As for our children, there has not been many studies done on the cost/benefit as related to children and masking. In November 2020 Dr Anthony Fauci stated, “If you look at the data, the spread among children and from children is not really very big at all, not like one would have suspected.” Are we willing to use our children as guinea pigs when it is common knowledge that the children are not greatly affected by this virus and do not act as transmitters for it? But one paper is not enough to change public policy. We have attached numerous studies that show the masks do not prevent the transmission of the virus and/or the serious health consequences for those who do wear masks.
On a final note, it is disturbing that in places where the government has said mandatory masking is not allowed many businesses still required it, cutting off normal life to those who wish to protect their health. We would hope that you can do something to protect the God given rights of those in Onondaga county, the basic right to breathe AND participate in normal life.
What we are going through, the response to the virus, is something we read about in history books. It is not something that we thought we would ever have to live through. Our rights protected by the constitution do not go away because of a virus. The framers of the constitution were well aware of pandemics. They realized that the real illness is tyranny and loss of basic rights. Fear makes people do things that are not logical and are often against their best interest. When a government forces people to go against their best interest, morality, and science, it becomes a tyrannical force.
Please look at the actual science and not the hysteria, headlines, political pressure, mask virtue signaling, peer pressure and financial incentives to pressure you to continue this unnecessary and harmful mask mandate. This virus has a survival rate of 99.5+% for those 69 and younger and 94.6% for those over 70 according to the CDC. Of course, everyone wants to keep themselves, their families, and their neighbors safe. Is masking the way to accomplish this goal when the packaging of many of the masks states clearly that they will not protect against a virus?
For those who wish to mask, it is their right and no one should tell them not to. But those of us who believe masking offers a false sense of security that is potentially harmful to our health should likewise be respected for that decision. Please allow us to live free in Onondaga county. Remove the mask mandate. Thank you.

References: https://www.scribd.com/document/503573509/Facemasks-in-the-COVID-19-era-A-health-hypothesis-by-Baruch-Vainshelboim https://vitalcolumns.com/do-face-masks-work-8-peer-reviewed-studies-on-pubmed-gov/ https://visionlaunch.com/more-than-a-dozen-credible-medical-studies-prove-face-masks-do-not-work-even-in-hospitals/