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It will help to keep this kind of news in perspective if you remember that mask mandate studies are very blunt instruments. You identify (preferably large) comm
by wrp 4y ago
It will help to keep this kind of news in perspective if you remember that mask mandate studies are very blunt instruments. You identify (preferably large) communities experiencing an outbreak, some with and some without mask mandates, then compare contagion rates. We have over a century of this kind research and the results are very consistent that mask mandates make no overall difference. However, more focused research appears to support that masking does have some positive effect in situations of close contact and limited ventilation. This topic has been done to death over the past couple years, and you can find references in previous HN threads.
- josephcsible 4y agoIf mask mandates make no overall difference, but help in some cases, doesn't that imply that they must cause harm in some other cases?
- wrp 4y agoThe broad answer is no, first of all because the narrow situations where masks are believed to help would not amount to a significant difference when considering the effect on an entire community. Secondly, I said "believed" because the evidence is actually rather limited and ambiguous, so the promotion of masks is based more on plausibility rather than firm proof. However, there does appear to be slight but consistent evidence for greater contagion rates in the general community when there is a mask mandate.