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Imagine that having the mask encourages you to go out and be around people. If you would otherwise self-isolate if you didn't have a mask, the mask has increas

Imagine that having the mask encourages you to go out and be around people. If you would otherwise self-isolate if you didn't have a mask, the mask has increased your chances of getting yourself and others sick.

kinkrtyavimoodh 7y ago
This is because the advice was delivered in a hare-brained manner and a month late. It should always have been a combination of mask wearing from day 1 and stopping any large gatherings. Combine that with social distancing and you get most of the benefits. Now we have already infected so many people and are trying to close the barn door when the horse has long fled. Before the lockdowns people were going about their merry lives WITHOUT masks. If they were doing exactly the same things but WITH masks, we would still be better off. A coordinated advice in this case is important. Without a central authority advising for masks, people who do choose to wear them look like loony conspiracy theorists, but if there is central guidance for doing it, it quickly changes public perception. The mask advice should have come in February, followed by bans on large gatherings (25+ people or some number), and then the lock downs could have come in a limited fashion in March as needed. All those cute videos of cutting TShirts and socks and what nots to make masks could have been shown in Feb and people would have used them. Instead the authorities chose to tell such a stupid lie that it's almost insulting to our intelligence.
- loopz 7y ago
  Citation for such lies?
  - cameldrv 7y ago
    https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/02/surgeon-general-americans-stop-buying-face-masks.html https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/02/surgeon-general-...
    - loopz 7y ago
      More specifically this tweet then on 29th of February 2020: https://twitter.com/Surgeon_General/status/1233725785283932160 U.S. Surgeon General @Surgeon_General 29th Feb. Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS! They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk! http://bit.ly/37Ay6Cm But wasn't this appropriate for that situation and time? If there were oversupply, sure, and enough time to train the public, and maybe some evidence that masks are not detrimental to contagion for untrained people. There's also a huge difference between a highly contagious situation, and one after physical distancing have halted the spread. You would want the real masks used where appropriate. What is surely to happen after this debacle though, is that many official recommendations and plans will have to account for pandemic outbreaks and remedy many of the shortcomings of current funding cuts.
      - gridlockd 7y ago
        > "They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus" This is true. Masks don't protect you from catching COVID-19. Masks may lower (but not eliminate) spread of virus particles. We don't have any evidence that this reduces infection rate, but it's plausible, at least for droplets. If the virus spreads mostly by aerosol however, then mandated masks are probably counterproductive, because if the government says "wear masks" the people will hear "wear masks and you'll be fine", because that is what they want to hear. All you smart rational types out there might not think like that, but I have heard this reasoning first hand from ordinary people. It's a real problem.
        cameldrv 7y ago
        Masks protect both directions. Some masks protect better than others. If masks don't protect you from getting COVID, why do healthcare workers wear them, and why should we reserve for them a product that doesn't work? I understand wanting there to be enough for HCWs. If so, say that without the lie. If there aren't enough for HCWs, restrict purchase by the general public and say that they will be available to the general public when there are adequate supplies. When the health authorities lie to the public, they lose credibility, and they need that credibility if they're going to ask people to do extreme things like not leave their houses for an extended period of time. It's really just like a condom. They work, some better than others, but none are perfect. The general public can understand that.

kinkrtyavimoodh 7y ago

This is because the advice was delivered in a hare-brained manner and a month late. It should always have been a combination of mask wearing from day 1 and stopping any large gatherings. Combine that with social distancing and you get most of the benefits. Now we have already infected so many people and are trying to close the barn door when the horse has long fled. Before the lockdowns people were going about their merry lives WITHOUT masks. If they were doing exactly the same things but WITH masks, we would still be better off. A coordinated advice in this case is important. Without a central authority advising for masks, people who do choose to wear them look like loony conspiracy theorists, but if there is central guidance for doing it, it quickly changes public perception. The mask advice should have come in February, followed by bans on large gatherings (25+ people or some number), and then the lock downs could have come in a limited fashion in March as needed. All those cute videos of cutting TShirts and socks and what nots to make masks could have been shown in Feb and people would have used them. Instead the authorities chose to tell such a stupid lie that it's almost insulting to our intelligence.

loopz 7y ago
Citation for such lies?
- cameldrv 7y ago
  https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/02/surgeon-general-americans-stop-buying-face-masks.html https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/02/surgeon-general-...
  - loopz 7y ago
    More specifically this tweet then on 29th of February 2020: https://twitter.com/Surgeon_General/status/1233725785283932160 U.S. Surgeon General @Surgeon_General 29th Feb. Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS! They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk! http://bit.ly/37Ay6Cm But wasn't this appropriate for that situation and time? If there were oversupply, sure, and enough time to train the public, and maybe some evidence that masks are not detrimental to contagion for untrained people. There's also a huge difference between a highly contagious situation, and one after physical distancing have halted the spread. You would want the real masks used where appropriate. What is surely to happen after this debacle though, is that many official recommendations and plans will have to account for pandemic outbreaks and remedy many of the shortcomings of current funding cuts.
    - gridlockd 7y ago
      > "They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus" This is true. Masks don't protect you from catching COVID-19. Masks may lower (but not eliminate) spread of virus particles. We don't have any evidence that this reduces infection rate, but it's plausible, at least for droplets. If the virus spreads mostly by aerosol however, then mandated masks are probably counterproductive, because if the government says "wear masks" the people will hear "wear masks and you'll be fine", because that is what they want to hear. All you smart rational types out there might not think like that, but I have heard this reasoning first hand from ordinary people. It's a real problem.
      - cameldrv 7y ago
        Masks protect both directions. Some masks protect better than others. If masks don't protect you from getting COVID, why do healthcare workers wear them, and why should we reserve for them a product that doesn't work? I understand wanting there to be enough for HCWs. If so, say that without the lie. If there aren't enough for HCWs, restrict purchase by the general public and say that they will be available to the general public when there are adequate supplies. When the health authorities lie to the public, they lose credibility, and they need that credibility if they're going to ask people to do extreme things like not leave their houses for an extended period of time. It's really just like a condom. They work, some better than others, but none are perfect. The general public can understand that.