Apple Finally Lifts Mask Mandate for Most Corporate Employees

Apple is finally dropping its mask mandate for most corporate employees, over two years after the start of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.

According to an internal email obtained by The Verge, the company is scrapping its mask requirement for most corporate employees.

“In light of current circumstances, wearing a face mask will no longer be required in most locations. As always, please check Welcome Forward regularly for specific requirements for your site, including those from local health authorities, or any site you may visit,” the internal email reads, encouraging individuals to continue to wear a mask if they feel like doing so.

“We recognize that everyone’s personal circumstances are different. Don’t hesitate to continue wearing a face mask if you feel more comfortable doing so. Also, please respect every individual’s decision to wear a mask or not,” it added.

Interestingly, Santa Clara County, where the Apple HQ is located, is among the Bay Area counties that just so happened to help prove that widespread county mask mandates do little to nothing to make a difference in terms of curbing the spread of the virus.

California’s Alameda County stood as the only county in the Bay Area that reimposed a mask mandate for most of June 2022. Despite that, it saw “near identical” case curves as nearby counties, including Santa Clara.

As Breitbart News reported:

SFGate cited data from the California Department of Public Health, showing the case rate for Alameda County — as well as Contra Costa, Santa Clara, and San Francisco — and found that the mask mandate made little to no difference.

…

While Santa Clara and San Francisco reported higher case rates and currently have a slightly higher 7-day case positivity rate, SFGate’s Eric Ting noted that these counties already “had higher case rates than Alameda County throughout the current surge, including pre-mask mandate.”

“Once the mandate was introduced, the three counties all followed the same trend line, casting doubt on whether the mask mandate did anything to curb transmission at the community level,” the report reads.

Apple’s decision also follows studies showing that cloth and surgical masks are not effective at blocking exhaled aerosols– a fact admitted by Dr. Anthony Fauci early in the pandemic.