Anti-Mask League of San Francisco

Anti-Mask League of San Francisco

The Anti-Mask League of San Francisco was an organization formed to protest an ordinance which required people in San Francisco, California to wear masks during the 1918 influenza pandemic. An estimated 4,000–5,000 citizens showed up to a meeting to protest the second ordinance in January 1919. The ordinance it protested lasted less than one month before being repealed.

About Anti-Mask League of San Francisco in brief

Summary Anti-Mask League of San FranciscoThe Anti-Mask League of San Francisco was an organization formed to protest an ordinance which required people in San Francisco, California to wear masks during the 1918 influenza pandemic. An estimated 4,000–5,000 citizens showed up to a meeting to protest the second ordinance in January 1919. The ordinance it protested lasted less than one month before being repealed. During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, opposition to the wearing of masks and anti-down protests led to comparisons with the Anti- Mask League.

A study then in 1919 concluded that mandatory mask mandates did not make any difference on epidemic. A likely reason for their ineffectiveness was that masks were worn outdoors and not inside in gatherings when conditions for transmission would be greatest. However, according to medical historians, the decline in deaths from influenza in San. Francisco can be partly attributed to the mandatory mask-wearing policies.