What's going on here, I guess, is that the sacralized talismanic status of the mask has become such that the rationale for its use has become entirely incoherent among its adherents, who attribute all sorts of incompatible magical qualities and capacities to it.

— Geoff Shullenberger (@daily_barbarian) April 4, 2022

I’ve even seen this talismanic status explicitly stated quite often. There are tons of tweets and articles saying that the mask-wearer is donning a mask to “show they care.” Honey, hate to tell you, but the SARS-CoV-2 virus doesn’t give a rip that you care. It’s going to slide through your never-washed cloth mask like a Javelin through a T-72.