This is a great point! I still don't think this excuses it though. I think a journalist has a responsibility to at least know the limits of their understanding

This is a great point! I still don't think this excuses it though. I think a journalist has a responsibility to at least know the limits of their understanding and not try to exceed that with numbers they don't understand. The author of the mask example about New Zealand could have stopped with the headline, as that's the only news-worthy part: Masks are required for two more weeks on public transit.