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Here is a public health official (Surgeon General of the United States) saying quite as much as OP was saying: Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS! They are N

by Reuzel 5y ago

Here is a public health official (Surgeon General of the United States) saying quite as much as OP was saying: 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 community at risk! > There is little doubt they know what they're doing. The bigger question is whether it's in your best interest. They knew what they were doing. But they did not know what they were doing. By not being honest and showing leadership, by politicizing science into scientism, by covering their asses for not buying enough PPE for the medics and soldiers, they heavily reduced trust in public institutions, and had to deal with the PR backlash of reversing an official stance mid-Pandemic, while whining about lab-leak "disinformation". Definitely not in our best interest. https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20210720/ex-surgeon-general--says-cdc-mask-guidance-may-be-wrong https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20210720/ex-surgeon-general-... Same general was made aware by email (FOIA released) two weeks before taking to Twitter to complain about people wearing masks in an airplane, and that the real risk is the flu. Probably did not read it. The ones who did, got sidetracked by Trump, and warned their friends to wear masks and avoid cities, days before even notifying the public of the "potential" for community spread... but let's not assume evil, where no-skin-in-the-game suffices (who ever got real consequences for wrong or dumb stuff on pandemics, before 2020? You could grow solely through Powerpoints and grants and Nature articles.

Consultant32452 5y ago
Maybe I wasn't clear. I'm aware public health officials flipped the script on masks. Can you find ANY example of a public health official publicly stating how effective cloth masks are? Not that they ARE effective, but HOW effective? As in how much disease spread is prevented from wearing cloth masks. I believe you will not be able to find any record of a public health official making a claim like "Wearing cloth masks reduces COVID spread by approximately X%." My hypothesis for why you won't find this is because the % is extremely low, in the < 5% range.
- Reuzel 5y ago
  I don't think a public health official averaged out all the research on masks and came up with a percentage. A lot of public policy was binary: masks prevent spread, but COVID can also spread through eyes and ears. We do not want general public to think they are fully protected with masks, and they will never understand nuance, only clear directions. So, do not wear masks, they are not effective for you. Ivermectin, Vitamin D, and HCQ are 100% ineffective, so get your shot. You should test your hypothesis. Masks clearly help spread. But these are better at preventing spread to others, than for preventing catching COVID. So a larger percentage of people has to wear masks for it to be effective. I protect you, you protect me. There is a ton of research from before the pandemic (if you allow me to extrapolate influenza to a novel coronavirus with common sense, not wait on the randomized trial to finish), and now also a lot of reviews and aggregations of mask effectiveness.
  - Consultant32452 5y ago
    I agree there is a lot of research pre-pandemic on the effectiveness of various types of masks in preventing the spread of virus. The consensus before the pandemic was that the spread prevention was so low that it could not justifiably be recommended for the purpose of preventing spread of virus. If you believe that wasn't/isn't the scientific consensus, then I welcome you again to find any public health official willing to state on the record how much viral transmission they believe masks are preventing. I'll expand the challenge to include heads of top tier medical universities. And I'll even accept a range, like "between x and y%." You will not find such a thing.
    - belltaco 5y ago
      >The consensus before the pandemic was that the spread prevention was so low that it could not justifiably be recommended for the purpose of preventing spread of virus Source? Mask wearing was quite prevalent in Japan and some asian countries.
      - Consultant32452 5y ago

by Reuzel 5y ago

Consultant32452 5y ago

Maybe I wasn't clear. I'm aware public health officials flipped the script on masks. Can you find ANY example of a public health official publicly stating how effective cloth masks are? Not that they ARE effective, but HOW effective? As in how much disease spread is prevented from wearing cloth masks. I believe you will not be able to find any record of a public health official making a claim like "Wearing cloth masks reduces COVID spread by approximately X%." My hypothesis for why you won't find this is because the % is extremely low, in the < 5% range.

Reuzel 5y ago
I don't think a public health official averaged out all the research on masks and came up with a percentage. A lot of public policy was binary: masks prevent spread, but COVID can also spread through eyes and ears. We do not want general public to think they are fully protected with masks, and they will never understand nuance, only clear directions. So, do not wear masks, they are not effective for you. Ivermectin, Vitamin D, and HCQ are 100% ineffective, so get your shot. You should test your hypothesis. Masks clearly help spread. But these are better at preventing spread to others, than for preventing catching COVID. So a larger percentage of people has to wear masks for it to be effective. I protect you, you protect me. There is a ton of research from before the pandemic (if you allow me to extrapolate influenza to a novel coronavirus with common sense, not wait on the randomized trial to finish), and now also a lot of reviews and aggregations of mask effectiveness.
- Consultant32452 5y ago
  I agree there is a lot of research pre-pandemic on the effectiveness of various types of masks in preventing the spread of virus. The consensus before the pandemic was that the spread prevention was so low that it could not justifiably be recommended for the purpose of preventing spread of virus. If you believe that wasn't/isn't the scientific consensus, then I welcome you again to find any public health official willing to state on the record how much viral transmission they believe masks are preventing. I'll expand the challenge to include heads of top tier medical universities. And I'll even accept a range, like "between x and y%." You will not find such a thing.
  - belltaco 5y ago
    >The consensus before the pandemic was that the spread prevention was so low that it could not justifiably be recommended for the purpose of preventing spread of virus Source? Mask wearing was quite prevalent in Japan and some asian countries.
    - Consultant32452 5y ago