4 ms·

It funny you mentioned this because the "science and data" overwhelmingly supports wearing a mask to cut transmission, which is also a major factor in why a ove

It funny you mentioned this because the "science and data" overwhelmingly supports wearing a mask to cut transmission, which is also a major factor in why a overwhelming majority of people support wearing one. https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/36/eabd3083 https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/36/eabd3083 https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-07-08-oxford-covid-19-study-face-masks-and-coverings-work-act-now https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-07-08-oxford-covid-19-study-f... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7191274/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7191274/ https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-about-masks-heres-science-behind-how-face-masks-prevent https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-abou... https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/10/20-0948_article https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/10/20-0948_article https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02801-8#ref-CR4 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02801-8#ref-CR4 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2768532 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2768532 https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202004.0203/v3 https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202004.0203/v3 Who would have guessed that most people are reasonable and take heed of doctors and scientists? Why have democracy at all if you don't believe our collective ability to make good choices most of the time?

nickthemagicman 6y ago
Very telling that literally all of the links you posted are either opinion pieces or editorial articles, and not a single article is an actual scientific publication. I think you're getting 'overwhelming support' by the media confused with overwhelming support by actual scientific data. The last article literally has a giant red warning at the top "This version is not peer-reviewed" or the second and third to last articles have a giant red "Editorial" warning at the top. Or the fourth to last article that is called an "Online Report". A blog could be considered an "Online report". LOL I was literally laughing as I went through these. Do you seriously think this is what actual scientific publications are? Is this view of what a scientific article is widespread? This explains a lot to me about why America is being crushed from the inside out by ignorance.
- starfallg 6y ago
  Opinion pieces? The first link is a study that measured the amount of droplets that each mask type blocks using optical equipment.
  - nickthemagicman 6y ago
    You had one semi-legit study amongst all 10 or so links! The rest were editorial articles or blog articles! ONE! Talk about disinformation. Too bad it's a pointless study. Everyone knows masks stop droplets. But do masks stop Covid at a community level... given the fact that one is applying a plague vector directly to one's respiratory tract for a virus that stays on surfaces for days? Sweden and Norway had no mask mandate and they haven't had significant number of coronavirus deaths in months. Maybe 20 since July. And they both have less per capita deaths than America. Meanwhile 93% of Americans believe in mask usage and we're entering a third wave of coronavirus in America. I don't know. You can tell me if masks work or not. Good thing health experts are never wrong. Oh wait except for that Thalidomide thing and the flipper children. Oh and little mistake called the Tuskagee study. Other than that though they have a great track record! Lets trust the health experts unquestioningly and demonize people who want their reccomendations to be held to a higher level of scientific accountability!
    - starfallg 6y ago
      If you actually looked at each of the other links, you'd noticed that they were all valid. I just picked the first one as an example of how seriously we should take your words at. Now you start going on a tangent with meta-analysis of statistical data, comparing Sweden with America with no appreciation of the difference in the culture, lifestyle and handling of the coronavirus and then attribute their relatively good performance just to the lack of a mask mandate? Give me a break, man.
      - nickthemagicman 6y ago
        If...editorial articles...count as valid scientific publications...than I'm going to write an editorial saying poop is gold, eat some taco bell, and retire! """comparing Sweden with America with no appreciation of the difference in the culture, lifestyle and handling of the coronavirus """ Where is the science regarding your claim that cultural differences invalidate country Covid rate comparisons. I see that in some of your historical comments on this site you compare different countries Covid rates despite their cultural and lifestyle differences. https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=starfallg&next=22685666 https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=starfallg&next=22685... Why does it not count in Sweden's case? Is one only allowed to compare countries when it supports your narrative? Can you please give me a break and be intellectually honest for two seconds?
TedPetrou 6y ago
There's not a single western industrialized nation or state that can be pointed to now as a mask success story. There were a few countries in eastern europe (specifically czechia) that were heralded as a primary reason for controlling covid in the spring. We now know that this apparent good result was not because of masks, but because of geography. Czechia is ranked #1 in the world in cases / million in the last week and #3 in deaths / million (and its numbers are still climbing). Every single eastern european nation had low cases/deaths in the spring and now all of them are having their first large surge. It's abundantly clear that cloth masks, as a whole, do not play a major role in how the virus spreads in a country.
- nickthemagicman 6y ago
  Thank you for this. I knew 93% of Americans support masks and we're about to enter a third wave in America. I didn't realize masks were that ineffective in other countries as well.
Nuzzerino 6y ago
What's telling is that in your original post, you stated: > Why did it take months for the government to be recommending face masks?" But all of these links you posted are dated after the April 3 recommendation by the CDC for the public to wear masks. https://www.livescience.com/cdc-recommends-face-masks-coronavirus.html https://www.livescience.com/cdc-recommends-face-masks-corona... "Based on the best evidence available at the time, it was not deemed that that would have a significant impact on whether or not a healthy person wearing a mask would contract COVID-19," Adams said."

nickthemagicman 6y ago

Very telling that literally all of the links you posted are either opinion pieces or editorial articles, and not a single article is an actual scientific publication. I think you're getting 'overwhelming support' by the media confused with overwhelming support by actual scientific data. The last article literally has a giant red warning at the top "This version is not peer-reviewed" or the second and third to last articles have a giant red "Editorial" warning at the top. Or the fourth to last article that is called an "Online Report". A blog could be considered an "Online report". LOL I was literally laughing as I went through these. Do you seriously think this is what actual scientific publications are? Is this view of what a scientific article is widespread? This explains a lot to me about why America is being crushed from the inside out by ignorance.

starfallg 6y ago
Opinion pieces? The first link is a study that measured the amount of droplets that each mask type blocks using optical equipment.
- nickthemagicman 6y ago
  You had one semi-legit study amongst all 10 or so links! The rest were editorial articles or blog articles! ONE! Talk about disinformation. Too bad it's a pointless study. Everyone knows masks stop droplets. But do masks stop Covid at a community level... given the fact that one is applying a plague vector directly to one's respiratory tract for a virus that stays on surfaces for days? Sweden and Norway had no mask mandate and they haven't had significant number of coronavirus deaths in months. Maybe 20 since July. And they both have less per capita deaths than America. Meanwhile 93% of Americans believe in mask usage and we're entering a third wave of coronavirus in America. I don't know. You can tell me if masks work or not. Good thing health experts are never wrong. Oh wait except for that Thalidomide thing and the flipper children. Oh and little mistake called the Tuskagee study. Other than that though they have a great track record! Lets trust the health experts unquestioningly and demonize people who want their reccomendations to be held to a higher level of scientific accountability!
  - starfallg 6y ago
    If you actually looked at each of the other links, you'd noticed that they were all valid. I just picked the first one as an example of how seriously we should take your words at. Now you start going on a tangent with meta-analysis of statistical data, comparing Sweden with America with no appreciation of the difference in the culture, lifestyle and handling of the coronavirus and then attribute their relatively good performance just to the lack of a mask mandate? Give me a break, man.
    - nickthemagicman 6y ago
      If...editorial articles...count as valid scientific publications...than I'm going to write an editorial saying poop is gold, eat some taco bell, and retire! """comparing Sweden with America with no appreciation of the difference in the culture, lifestyle and handling of the coronavirus """ Where is the science regarding your claim that cultural differences invalidate country Covid rate comparisons. I see that in some of your historical comments on this site you compare different countries Covid rates despite their cultural and lifestyle differences. https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=starfallg&next=22685666 https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=starfallg&next=22685... Why does it not count in Sweden's case? Is one only allowed to compare countries when it supports your narrative? Can you please give me a break and be intellectually honest for two seconds?

TedPetrou 6y ago

There's not a single western industrialized nation or state that can be pointed to now as a mask success story. There were a few countries in eastern europe (specifically czechia) that were heralded as a primary reason for controlling covid in the spring. We now know that this apparent good result was not because of masks, but because of geography. Czechia is ranked #1 in the world in cases / million in the last week and #3 in deaths / million (and its numbers are still climbing). Every single eastern european nation had low cases/deaths in the spring and now all of them are having their first large surge. It's abundantly clear that cloth masks, as a whole, do not play a major role in how the virus spreads in a country.

nickthemagicman 6y ago
Thank you for this. I knew 93% of Americans support masks and we're about to enter a third wave in America. I didn't realize masks were that ineffective in other countries as well.

Nuzzerino 6y ago

What's telling is that in your original post, you stated: > Why did it take months for the government to be recommending face masks?" But all of these links you posted are dated after the April 3 recommendation by the CDC for the public to wear masks. https://www.livescience.com/cdc-recommends-face-masks-coronavirus.html https://www.livescience.com/cdc-recommends-face-masks-corona... "Based on the best evidence available at the time, it was not deemed that that would have a significant impact on whether or not a healthy person wearing a mask would contract COVID-19," Adams said."