2 ms·

The early days of the pandemic, when everyone was actually most scared, had authrority figures tell us not to wear masks and that the virus is not airborne, jus

The early days of the pandemic, when everyone was actually most scared, had authrority figures tell us not to wear masks and that the virus is not airborne, just droplets (so that it's important to wash our hands and anything we buy). The idea that the virus isn't airborne persisted even after they started admitting that masks are critical. And regardless, any mask of any kind helps. N95 is much better, but even a basic cloth mask will help reduce the amount of viral load you breath out or in. Especially if both the person breathing out and the one breathing in are wearing them.

braiamp 3y ago
The issue is that we didn't know the virus was aerosol (airbone means something else). The best evidence at the time was that it was droplets. In the case of aerosol, just being in the vicinity of where an infected patient was, was enough. Washing hands has limited effect on aerosol since it "hangs around" in the air. The issue is that the virus also uses droplets. Coughing and breathing both spread. It was effective against one form of spreading, not all. With time we learned. That's how science works and expecting anything else is ripe for disappointment.