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For instance, people who wear masks might spend much less time within 6' of each other, be more likely to be vaccinated, or some other confounding factor to mas

For instance, people who wear masks might spend much less time within 6' of each other, be more likely to be vaccinated, or some other confounding factor to mask effectiveness. Neither of those factors are true where I am and there are very few new cases. I don’t deny that there could be confounding factors. But, and I’m using the word literally correctly here, my supermarket is literally operating as normal with social distancing almost impossible. You can’t even walk past someone in an aisle correctly distanced. And forget about getting vaccinated. It’s very hard to get an appointment here. I’m not sure what other confounding factor is powerful enough to counteract hundreds of people in close proximity breathing the same air if cloth masks have an insignificant effect.

brigandish 5y ago
> I’m not sure what other confounding factor is powerful enough to counteract hundreds of people in close proximity breathing the same air if cloth masks have an insignificant effect. The difference in populations. If your population is younger, fitter, lighter skinned (and that's just three of the most important of the many factors found in severity of the disease) then there could be the same number of cases in both populations but yours has a higher number of asymptomatic or symptomatic but self-misdiagnosed cases. Unless both populations are being mass tested weekly? Or do they only get a test if they show symptoms…