In incredibly surprising and wholly unexpected turn of events, systematic literature review of child mask mandates finds no evidence they do anything to stop Covid

Pandemic horrors: A school in Duisburg praises its students for their heroic adherence to outdoor mask rules “despite the heat.”

In the Great Masktard Debate, the idiocy is not uniform, but highly variable. By far the greatest idiocy in this parade of bad evidence, failed predictions and false interventionist hysteria attaches to those who are most eager to force masks upon children. Lest you think all of these idiots have finally gone away because most school mask mandates have fizzled, I quote from the current advice of the American Centres for Disease Control on “The Use and Care of Masks”:

Children ages 2 years and older can wear masks or respirators to protect themselves and others from COVID-19.

Choose a high-quality and comfortable mask or respirator that your child can wear properly. A poorly fitting or uncomfortable mask or respirator might be worn incorrectly or removed often, and that would reduce its intended benefits.

Choose a size that fits over the child’s nose and under the chin but does not impair vision …

If your child has a hard time breathing, gets dizzy, or has other symptoms while you are trying to get the mask to fit better or when using an ASTM F3502 mask or a respirator, choose a cloth or disposable mask. They should continue to protect themselves and others. Consult your healthcare provider if these symptoms do not resolve.

Yes, that’s right: The national public health agency of the dominant Western power still recommends masking children as young as 2 to prevent Covid. They accept that these masks may actually hinder respiration to the point of causing dizziness, in which case they advise parents to use less restrictive cloth masks, which do not even have the pretence of evidence in their favour. All of this is for the demographic that faces the least risk of Covid infection and probably the greatest risk from masking, which interferes among other things with communication and language development.

Now, there is a reason that child masking is a particularly idiotic superstition. In fact, there are two of them.