Chicago City Wire

Health Insurance Mentors principal broker Steven Tucker argues Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s masking mandates only serve as an undue burden on the public.

"Cloth masks are not considered to be PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) because they cannot be sealed,” Tucker, also a Chicago Tea Party activist, said. “Respirators such as N-95 and half and full face respirators can be sealed which makes respirators actually effective. This being the case, cloth and surgical masks are effectively useless when seeking protection from the COVID-19 virus.”

Tucker argues there’s nothing that can change that.

“Even if cloth and surgical masks could be properly sealed (they cannot be) they still would not able to protect against particulates that are smaller than 0.3 microns,” he said. “The COVID-19 virus particulate measures 0.1 microns, which is 1000 times smaller in diameter than the diameter of a human hair. If Governor Pritzker actually seeks to ‘follow the science and data’ he should read O.S.H.A. regulations which are provided by the U.S. Department of Labor."

With COVID infection rates reported to be on the rise across the state, the governor recently reinstated a mandate requiring all residents over the age of 2 to wear masks in indoor venues.

With Pritzker declaring the state is “running out of time as our hospitals run out of beds,” the masks are required regardless of vaccination status.

"Illinois will join several other states that have reinstituted statewide indoor mask requirements, regardless of vaccination status,” he said.

With schools across the state reopening this month for in-person learning, the governor has also reimposed a universal mask mandate for all public and private school students. The mandate also extends to healthcare workers in settings like hospitals, nursing homes and urgent care facilities. Those who remain unvaccinated will be required to get tested for COVID-19 at least once a week.

"Masks work. Period," he said.

Not everyone seems convinced.

University of Illinois at Chicago-affiliated professors Dr. Lisa Brosseau and Dr. Margaret Sietsema recently wrote in a commentary that "cloth masks and face coverings are likely to have limited impact on lowering COVID-19 transmission, because they have minimal ability to prevent the emission of small particles, offer limited personal protection with respect to small particle inhalation, and should not be recommended as a replacement for physical distancing or reducing time in enclosed spaces with many potentially infectious people."

While in an April 2020 commentary, they noted, "despite the current limited scientific data detailing their effectiveness, we support the wearing of face coverings by the public when mandated and when in close contact with people whose infection status they don't know,” the pair wrote. “We also encourage everyone to continue to limit their time spent indoors near potentially infectious people and to not count on or expect a cloth mask or face covering to protect them or the people around them.”