My heavens, some common sense from our state's Health Department

Health Commissioner says free citizens should make their own choices about masking.

Two years late, but compared to the CDC and Blue State charlatans, it’s still progress, so good for her.

State Department of Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani said there may be no threshold at which the department would recommend a statewide mask mandate, she said during an interview this week.

Amid rising COVID rates across the country, the city of Philadelphia announced this week that it will reinstate a citywide mask mandate. Three Washington, D.C.-area universities announced similar plans.

COVID-19 again is on the rise in Connecticut with the seven-day positivity rate reaching 6.26 percent as 3,442 new cases were confirmed in 54,982 tests over the past seven days, the state reported Thursday. There were 12 additional patients in the hospital compared to this time last week for a total of 139. Fourteen additional COVID-related deaths were also reported over the previous seven days.

But when asked if she sees a point when a statewide mask mandate would be reinstated, Juthani said, “I don’t think so.”

“The reason I say that is because, unfortunately for us, the public is in a very different place than we were two years ago,” she said. “When you mandate something, the reality is, then you enforce, and how would we do that?

Revolt of the Masses

Enforcing a mask mandate, at this point, is not something our society, I think, in my assessment, is in a place to fully accept.”

When asked if political concerns play a role in her opinion, Juthani said, “At some level, we do need to let society self-regulate.”

Juthani, who remained masked during an interview with Hearst Connecticut Media Group, said people know what works and can make those choices on their own.

“I’m really at the point though, in this pandemic, where I genuinely feel that people have been through this for two long years,” she said. “And people know what works. There’s no doubt masks work. There’s no doubt.”

An individual calculus is involved, Juthani said. She made the choice to remain masked because, “I need to be well for the next several weeks.”

“I take off my mask. It’s not like I go around everywhere wearing them,” she said. “But if I’m going to be in more crowded places and if, like I’m making a calculation right now, I need to be well for the next couple of weeks, then I’m going to take that and make my own personal judgment. That’s what everybody’s gonna have to do.”

Juthani said for residents who are more at-risk than others, including immunocompromised patients, there are “other tools,” including monoclonal antibody treatments such as Evusheld and COVID-specific antiviral medications.

“Immunocompromised people can get fifth shots, immunocompromised people can get Evusheld, immunocompromised people can mask themselves, they can stay out of crowded places,” she said. “That’s why I see my role as one being out there to say, ‘These are the tools you have. If you get infected, go to these places, you can get a medication. If you get infected, here are self test kits, stay home,’ help people do those other things, other than just focusing only on the mask.”