Everyone now knows that the wearing of surgical masks by the general public is beneficial. That wasn't clear in late February and early March, and the scientifi

Everyone now knows that the wearing of surgical masks by the general public is beneficial. That wasn't clear in late February and early March, and the scientific community was uncertain. That's why a paper finding that surgical masks are effective was important enough to be published in Nature Medicine as late as 3 April (and has been cited hundreds of times since).[1] It might seem obvious that surgical masks help, but there are a few reasons that people thought they might not: 1. Surgical masks let lots of unfiltered air in. 2. People might feel a false sense of security with masks, which could make them harmful. 3. People might touch their faces more when wearing masks. Research like the paper I mentioned above, as well as the realization that asymptomatic and presymptomatic people play a large role in spreading the virus convinced the scientific community that widespread wearing of surgical masks is helpful. But blaming institutions for not knowing the right answer early on seems very unfair to me. 1. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0843-2 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0843-2