I am a firm believer in following the rules. At what point, however, does this mask mandate become unreasonable, irrational and counterintuitive to sustaining life. Breathing is life. If you stop breathing, you are no longer alive. If your brain is deprived of oxygen for a short time you will have brain damage. My rational mind is telling me that wearing a mask for anything other than a short period of time is unhealthy and unsanitary. We breath in oxygen and breath out carbon dioxide ("CO2"). Wearing a mask everywhere all the time for this long is restricting our normal breathing which I believe can have short term as well as long term deleterious effects. The rationale for the seemingly unending order to wear a mask is, we are being told, based on the science that doing so reduces the risk of spreading the virus. Whereas this might be true, what about the science of breathing normally. The level of CO2 in our bodies is what controls our breathing. When CO2 reaches a certain level, a signal is sent from the breathing center in our brain stem to the breathing muscles which triggers inhalation. Upon exhalation we exhale CO2 and a new breathing cycle starts. CO2 is being produced in our bodies all the time and when we breath we exhale the CO2 that has been built up in our bodies. The more active we are, the more CO2 is produced. That is why it is so important to breathe properly when we do strenuous exercise. And how can we properly expel the CO2 in our bodies and breathe the proper amount of oxygen in with a mask on our nose and mouth. We are breathing CO2 out onto that mask and breathing in whatever bacteria is being built up on that mask from the CO2 that leaves our bodies and the warm air coming out of our mouths. At the same time, we are not breathing in proper amounts of oxygen.
And if wearing a mask is so effective at stopping the spread of the virus according to what we are being told, then why is the virus still rampant according to the reports being published by the authorities? In my State of California 47 counties out of 58 are being reported as still in the "widespread" county risk level (https://covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy/) after almost an entire year of being ordered to wear a mask. Something is rotten in Denmark.
I think it is irresponsible for the author of this CDC article to advise people to wear a mask during "high-intensity" exercise in a gym or elsewhere that requires deep and proper breathing without cautioning of the dangers of becoming lightheaded, dizzy or passing out. And there are many, many people with lung conditions who really struggle with breathing in the normal course let alone being muzzled with a mask. No matter how cool the manipulative ad campaigns make it sound, e.g., "wear a mask, save lives" or "do it for your family" or "wear a mask, be a hero" this is wrong at this point (e.g., almost one year in) on so many levels. Nevertheless, let's continue being responsible and following government orders by masking up but at what point does this end?
