It's important not just to remember this (the incorrect guidance on masks) but to study and understand it. When I wrote my "masks work" op-ed on March 17 for the New York Times, I honestly thought I was likely ending my career as a public writer. https://twitter.com/Aelkus/status/1261994903007113216 …
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Isn’t the jury still pretty far out on masks?
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Yes, it is. But when layperson “intuition” is up against slow, deliberate scientific study, truth takes a backseat.
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No. Many of the world's leading health scientist plus health authorities in almost country have made it clear: asymptomatic/asymptomatic transmission makes masks especially important. Take a look at the signatories just here. https://masks4all.co/letter-over-100-prominent-health-experts-call-for-cloth-mask-requirements/ …
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To clarify: It is established that masks worn properly, cleaned properly, in addition to hand hygiene, physical distancing, etc. *may* reduce transmission. The question is whether, in reality, mask-wearing *actually* reduces transmission in an actual population of real people.
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You have less evidence of that kind for hand-washing or physical-distancing at this point than masks to be honest. Masks have more. We should do *all three* because of preponderance of evidence for all three. And the "properly" part is a misunderstanding. Any mask > no mask.
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Totally agree that we should be doing all three. The thing that's (from my understanding) still in the air, is whether people shift their hand-washing/distancing/face-touching behaviors due to wearing masks significantly enough to negate their benefits.
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That's a "risk compensation" theory and we have evidence from all other safety devices: it just never overwhelms the actual safety effect. So I feel confident saying not likely at all. Touching face with mask on is better than without mask, and no worse harm there.
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I mean, millions of people in Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan etc. wearing masks for months... No past reason to suspect increased risk; no current reason to suspect increased risk. Plus, "increased risk" from risk compensation would apply to hand-washing.
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Replying to @zeynep @circulinear and
We have a respiratory disease; lots of lab tests; tons of countries and their experience; a very good physical model; lots of research from past (with SARS, most effective method: masks) etc. At this point, masks have stronger evidence than most. All three is good though.
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