> One cannot claim that both A) masks are "not effective at stopping COVID" and B) "people in hospitals needed them more than the average citizen". It's a laugh

> One cannot claim that both A) masks are "not effective at stopping COVID" and B) "people in hospitals needed them more than the average citizen". It's a laughably obvious contradiction. It's not a complete contradiction. Masks are required by hospitals for many reasons other than Covid. The initial logic was if everyone bought out masks there may not be a supply for even these other cases. Though, I agree this was needed because of their failure to plan. If there was better planning the mask supply would be a lot better. I personally believe they held off on recommending the general public to wear masks because they knew they didn't have supply for medical staff. Also, come on, don't taunt people to downvote you. That's really not productive. It's also against the HN guidelines.