![\"\"](\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/6070739885f5405f784bf0b3.jpg\")
\u00a9 Getty Images \/ Warchi<\/p><\/div>\n
Neil Clark
\nRT.com<\/p>\n
The WEF\u2019s promotion of a Chinese \u2018smart face mask\u2019 that tracks every breath its wearer takes is further evidence that the changes to Western society over the last 12 months of Covid are intended to be permanent.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s only for when you pop into Tesco\u2019s to do your weekly shop, what\u2018s your problem with that, you selfish \u2018right-wing\u2019 libertarian?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0That\u2019s how the introduction of mandatory face-masks was sold to us in Britain last summer, by its virtue-signalling,\u00a0\u201cLook at me, I\u2019m such a good citizen\u201d<\/em>\u00a0supporters.<\/p>\n Masks would be temporary \u2013 restricted to shops \u2013 and as soon as the Covid threat had passed they would be dispensed with, like social distancing. Anyone who said these measures were designed to be permanent \u2013 and were part of the global elite\u2019s plan to keep the plebs muzzled up forever \u2013 was dismissed as a \u2018crank\u2019 and \u2018a conspiracy theorist\u2019.<\/p>\n Well, nine months on, and where are we?<\/p>\n The UK government has issued a \u2018road map\u2019 for taking us \u2013 with the speed of a 150-year-old Galapagos Island tortoise on sleeping tablets \u2013 out of lockdown. But there\u2019s no mention of when masks and social distancing will be dispensed with.<\/p>\n Could that be because there\u2019s no intention of masks and social distancing ever being dispensed with? It certainly appears that way.<\/p>\n Since last July, we\u2019ve seen the mask mandate expanded. You are now asked to wear them not just in shops, but in all indoor areas, unless exempt. Even school children have to wear them in class. That decision was supposed to be reviewed at Easter, and, guess what, the government has just extended the school mask mandate until the summer. In addition, football fans will be expected to wear masks when they\u2019re finally allowed back into grounds this spring at \u2018trial\u2019 events.<\/p>\n \u2018Following the science\u2019? Hardly. We shouldn\u2019t forget that in the week that masks were first introduced last summer, deaths with Covid literally reached zero.<\/p>\n The BBC\u2019s Health Correspondent Deborah Cohen asked the World Health Organisation if their change of advice on masks had been due to political lobbying, and they did not deny.<\/p>\n Why, if masks were so important in preventing transmission, weren\u2019t we told to wear them last March and April? In fact, government scientists advised us\u00a0not<\/a>\u00a0to wear them.<\/p>\n Now, it seems not only must we wear them, but we need to get used to them being a permanent part of daily life in the \u2018New Abnormal\u2019. In their recent\u00a0paper<\/a>, \u2018Evaluating England\u2019s Road Map out of Lockdown\u2018, published on the UK government\u2019s website, the Imperial College Covid-19 Response team state:\u00a0\u201cWhilst the impact of Test Trace Isolate, mask wearing, hand hygiene and COVID security on \u2018R\u2018 is difficult to quantify it will be vital to emphasise the importance of normalising and ensuring adherence to all measures even after \u2018full lifting\u2019 is achieved.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Got that? Masks need to stay even after Boris Johnson says ‘Lockdown is over\u2018.<\/p>\n It\u2019s in this context that the World Economic Forum\u2019s (WEF) enthusiastic\u00a0promotion<\/a>\u00a0of the Chinese \u2018smart face mask\u2019 needs to be seen. It apparently reminds users when to wash it and checks if they\u2019re wearing it properly. If too much carbon dioxide builds up inside, a phone alert reminds the wearer to catch a few breaths of fresh air. If the user forgets to put it on, the same phone app sends them a reminder to mask up.<\/p>\n