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In Canada they said masks don't work and even make things worse, despite every Asian country using them at the time.

yodsanklai 5y ago
Same in France. Then a couple of months later, masks were mandatory outdoors even in low-density areas. I feel that treating people like children overall hurts public trust.
kwhitefoot 5y ago
Asian countries already used them at the time, not because of COVID. Unfortunately it appears that no one had researched this phenomenon so there were no good statistics on whether, or not, they were effective.
- pmarreck 5y ago
  Surgeons have used surgical masks for... 100 years? Are you sure there's no evidence to back that up?
  - kwhitefoot 5y ago
    Operating theatres and streets are radically different environments. The surgeon is leaning over the patient and breathing directly toward an open wound so of course it makes sense for a surgeon to wear a mask. That's not what happens in the street.
ethanbond 5y ago
Can you find a source for an actual authority (ideally a health authority) saying that? There’s a similar meme going around the US, but I’ve yet to find any (except one, noted below) health expert who actually said “masks don’t work” rather than “we don’t know that masks work.” The one exception I’ve been able to find was the US Surgeon General Jerome Adams. This seems like a clear example of health authorities sharing a nuanced true-at-the-time message that got stripped of that nuance and rounded out to the nearest (false) simplified interpretation.
- Mikeb85 5y ago
  https://torontosun.com/news/national/do-masks-work-dr-tam-still-tells-canadians-dont-wear-them https://torontosun.com/news/national/do-masks-work-dr-tam-st... From the chief public health officer of Canada who is also a WHO advisor. She's also said other very questionable things (which are all Googleable and which pretty much every Canadian can tell you as it's been a bit of an ongoing scandal, among others...). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresa_Tam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresa_Tam
  - ethanbond 5y ago
    I actually can’t watch that video, potentially not available outside of Canada? Was able to find this one which, yes, contains some concerns and ideas that ended up being invalid (like transmission through eyes or fomites/touching), but which were not completely crazy at the time. https://youtu.be/_edxN5kkBtc https://youtu.be/_edxN5kkBtc Not sure if that’s the same interview you linked though^

Same in France. Then a couple of months later, masks were mandatory outdoors even in low-density areas. I feel that treating people like children overall hurts public trust.

kwhitefoot 5y ago

Asian countries already used them at the time, not because of COVID. Unfortunately it appears that no one had researched this phenomenon so there were no good statistics on whether, or not, they were effective.

pmarreck 5y ago
Surgeons have used surgical masks for... 100 years? Are you sure there's no evidence to back that up?
- kwhitefoot 5y ago
  Operating theatres and streets are radically different environments. The surgeon is leaning over the patient and breathing directly toward an open wound so of course it makes sense for a surgeon to wear a mask. That's not what happens in the street.

ethanbond 5y ago

Can you find a source for an actual authority (ideally a health authority) saying that? There’s a similar meme going around the US, but I’ve yet to find any (except one, noted below) health expert who actually said “masks don’t work” rather than “we don’t know that masks work.” The one exception I’ve been able to find was the US Surgeon General Jerome Adams. This seems like a clear example of health authorities sharing a nuanced true-at-the-time message that got stripped of that nuance and rounded out to the nearest (false) simplified interpretation.

Mikeb85 5y ago
https://torontosun.com/news/national/do-masks-work-dr-tam-still-tells-canadians-dont-wear-them https://torontosun.com/news/national/do-masks-work-dr-tam-st... From the chief public health officer of Canada who is also a WHO advisor. She's also said other very questionable things (which are all Googleable and which pretty much every Canadian can tell you as it's been a bit of an ongoing scandal, among others...). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresa_Tam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresa_Tam
- ethanbond 5y ago
  I actually can’t watch that video, potentially not available outside of Canada? Was able to find this one which, yes, contains some concerns and ideas that ended up being invalid (like transmission through eyes or fomites/touching), but which were not completely crazy at the time. https://youtu.be/_edxN5kkBtc https://youtu.be/_edxN5kkBtc Not sure if that’s the same interview you linked though^