Kids Full of Life, Adults Obsessed with Death: The insanity of masking children—by the numbers

These are nationwide statistics. But, of course, there has been a huge difference in mask policies toward kids—and others—across the several states. Under Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida’s children have lived freely, except in particular localities that have imposed their own mandates. Under Governor Gavin Newsom, by contrast, California’s kids have lived a masked existence, with partial exceptions in counties (such as Orange) where Newsom’s decrees have been only loosely enforced.

Children’s lives have been radically different in these two states. As long as they haven’t ventured into Walt Disney World—which apparently thinks that required mask-wearing is compatible with being the most magical place on earth—kids in Florida have been free to live like kids. In California, however, unless they’ve been raised in a liberty-loving place like Huntington Beach and been home-schooled, children have been forced to live like minimum-security prisoners.

The result? From January 1, 2020, to January 15, 2022, 99.999 percent of kids in California didn’t die of Covid—either because they didn’t get it, or because they recovered from it. Over that same span of time, 99.999 percent of kids in Florida didn’t die of Covid. Both states’ numbers matched the national average. So, where would you rather be growing up?

Or take two adjacent states with very different attitudes toward the masking of the American kid. Under Governor Kate Brown, Oregon’s schoolchildren are required to be masked in schools, as well as when they enter other buildings apart from private residences. Directly across Oregon’s eastern border, meantime, under Governor Brad Little, Idaho has not had a mask mandate at any time during the pandemic, either in or out of schools.

From January 1, 2020, to January 15, 2022, Oregon had just two Covid-related deaths of kids (those under age 18); Idaho, with about half the population, had just one—giving kids in each state a Covid survival rate of 100.000 percent, or 99.9998 percent when taken out to the fourth decimal point. A huge difference in freedom produced no difference in fatality rates.