A Mask Story

 It's a bit comical (yet serious) on a story that popped-up this morning, via Focus news.

For about six months (2020), you were mandated to wear a mask for the Covid-19 crisis.  Didn't matter what kind of mask.....it could have been paper, cloth, etc.

I would suggest that 60-percent of Germans had gone to cloth masks, because it made sense on re-use.  You'd take it off at the end of the day....soak it in some vinegar, and throw it in the wash.  

Well....the government came out toward November with this mandate....it could only be FFP-2 or a particular surgical mask.  A lot of Germans grumbled about this change (you were basically given two weeks).  Sourcing either type?  This became a huge task.

So the German government came up and said they'd 'give' you some masks.  You'd get these free masks via your local pharmacy.  At the time....it didn't really make sense to me.  You should make a mandate for 30 days away, and just let the grocery stores find distribution channels to acquire and sell you the masks.

Yesterday, folks woke up and realized that regular taxpayers are now going to get the bill (to the government) over this 'free' deal.

The key issue?  This whole 'free' deal....came because the Minister of Health established the mandate.  The estimated cost to the government?  TWO billion Euro (figure around $2.5 billion dollars).

Why?  The government agreed (for each single FFP-2 mask)....to pay 6 Euro....even though the cost factor was around 1-to-2 Euro (some will argue that the manufacturing/delivery cost is actually closer to 80 Euro-cents).  If you were a pharmacy, and you had 10k people walk through over a two week period to get four masks....the pharmacy made roughly 160k Euro profit.  

The comparison I'd make.....you get ten pallets of soda, for 1-Euro each (from the dealer), and the customer is mandated to pay 5-Euro for each soda.  It's an unbelievable scale of profit involved here.

This is all front-page news this morning.  It really damages the Merkel coalition a good bit, and displays the entire landscape of 'free' stuff for what it is.  Nothing....absolutely nothing....is ever free.  You pay somewhere down the line.

The stupidity of not allowing an entire month to reach a 'must-wear' date for the FFP-2 mask, and letting the grocery stores do what they do the best?