Dr. Nicole Saphier: ‘You Not Wearing a Face Mask Could Be Spreading the Virus’

Wearing a mask is a matter of “personal responsibility” to reduce the coronavirus’s spread given evidence of the pathogen’s aerosolization and the prevalence of asymptomatic carriers, said Dr. Nicole Saphier, a board certified physician and author of Make America Healthy Again: How Bad Behavior and Big Government Caused a Trillion-Dollar Crisis, on Wednesday’s edition of SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Tonight with host Rebecca Mansour.

Mansour asked Saphier whether masks should be used as a precaution against viral transmission, particularly in densely populated areas with asymptomatic carriers of the coronavirus.

Saphier replied, “We know a lot more about this virus now than we did even a couple of weeks ago — let alone a couple of months ago — and the bottom line is this virus is highly contagious. There are studies that say this thing could be aerosolized.”

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Saphier continued, “When you think of an aerosolized virus, you think of measles and smallpox and other things that can really travel. Obviously this coronavirus is not [of] the same virulence as those viruses, but it’s so contagious in that way.”

Wearing a mask is a prudent measure to reduce spreading of the virus and restore conditions conducive to removing the lockdown restrictions, explained Saphier.

Saphier continued, “I also don’t like being out in public wearing a mask. It gives a really eerie feeling, but at this point, if we don’t have a proven treatment and we don’t have a vaccine, and we don’t want to shut down our nation again, then we should consider wearing a mask if we’re going to have to be in tight places with a lot of people, because the bottom line is we are now knowing 25 to 50 percent of people are actually passing this virus and they’re completely asymptomatic.”

“Data out of Washington state said that about 50 percent of the people who [were] passing the virus in the nursing homes that caused so much death were actually asymptomatic,” noted Saphier. “This asymptomatic spread is a big issue. We don’t see that with the flu. We don’t see that with the cold, because you’re usually sick, and when you have symptoms, you tend to avoid people. But if you are asymptomatic with a highly contagious virus, you are going to continue to go out amongst people and spread this virus, and you’re going to see a massive spike in cases again, and they’re going to shut things down all over again until they have a proven treatment.”

Mansour said, “If we have to just wear a face mask and pack some Purell in our pocket and just don’t touch our faces to get our economy going, let’s do it. Let’s go. Let’s roll. We can live with that. We’ve got to get our economy open.”

Saphier concurred, “I can’t agree with you more. This is all down to personal responsibility — from chronic illness to wearing a face mask.”

Saphier warned, “You not wearing a face mask could be spreading the virus, which could then cause a spike in your community, which can then cause your community to shut down again. So, you either be responsible and wear a face mask until they give you all-clear saying that they have a treatment [or] a vaccine, or else the alternative is to shut down again.”

Saphier concluded, “I have been saying now for months that I am very concerned that the long-term consequences from this economic fallout — from the unemployment to be increased suicides and drug overdoses, and depression and anxiety — is all going to far outweigh any sort of mortality from the virus. So, if we all just kind of band together and start making some smart decisions, we’re going to get on the other side of this.”

Breitbart News Tonight broadcasts live on SiriusXM Patriot channel 125 weeknights from 9:00 p.m. to midnight Eastern or 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Pacific.

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