Don't health care workers need masks pre-covid to reduce disease spread in hospitals? They work with immune compromised patients all the time. Mask shortages would greatly affect their ability to provide health care. I might be misremembering, but lockdowns or semi-lockdowns were what was being advocated to protect health workers and front line workers.
So masks were really for patients who were infected not to spread the disease and not for HCW's to be protected from the disease?
If you are around highly vulnerable people, there is greater need to wear a mask. If you are regularly in close proximity to infected people, there is greater need to wear a mask. If you are a member of the general population, and asymptomatic spread is not a major factor, then wearing a mask is not so helpful and may actually be counter-productive. Once it was understood that asymptomatic spread was a major factor for COVID infection rates, the calculus changed and the guidance accordingly changed. https://theconversation.com/can-surgical-masks-protect-you-from-getting-the-flu-125023 The study, published in JAMA, found that surgical masks were as effective as N95 respirators at preventing the flu, which is to say, not all that effective because, of the 446 nurses who took part in this study, nearly one in four (24%) in the surgical mask group still got the flu as did 23% of those who wore the N95 respirator. And, because both groups wore masks, it’s impossible to say how they would have fared compared with not wearing a mask at all. Basically, there is no strong evidence to support well people wearing surgical masks in public. Or as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put it: “No recommendation can be made at this time for mask use in the community by asymptomatic persons, including those at high risk for complications, to prevent exposure to influenza viruses.” The best thing you can do to stop getting the flu is to regularly wash your hands, and try to avoid touching your face.
Masks for healthcare workers has been a thing way before covid-19. I'm not sure why you are so caught up on this. If you don't see why a mask shortage would endanger patients and healthcare workers in general (other diseases exist in hospitals), I really don't know what to say.
so masks protect people from diseases. that's a common knowledge right? a country as great and rich as america can't supply surgical masks to their healthworkers AND citizens? so instead of figuring out how to supply everyone with masks, they tell everyone not to wear masks
The US couldn't supply the country with toilet paper, hand sanitizer and a number of other things either.
There's more to it than just mask shortages. Early on, it was believed that spread was mainly from touching infected surfaces and then touching your face. Wearing masks could end up being counter-productive, resulting in people not following the other guidance on washing hands and not touching the face.
so now from an excuse of not being to supply the excuse now is people can't follow simple directions and multi task? wear a mask, social distance, wash hands, don't touch your face. really?
The “excuse” hasn’t changed. You chose to focus on one thing when anyone who takes two seconds to think about it would realize it’s more complicated than that.
Well they were wrong. Mask can be a barrier for you even if you are not sick. It will protect you. Its just that it is more effective on people that are sick. And they were slow to the party about asymptotic aspect as well. Asymptotic carriers were being discussed very early on. If they didnt know everything , they should have erred on side of caution and let people wear mask. Wearing mask would not hurt them but not wearing mask would which is exactly what happened.
Exactly. It was hypocritical message. As a side note, I had been following the Corvid coverage since December and when I took a trip cross country to San Francisco, in January, I wore mask both ways. Sure I got some weird looks but now they know... har har. Crap, or maybe they think I brought the virus here...
Do you think the country just keeps billions of surgical masks hanging around? Do you think we can instantly make or buy billions of them when the entire world is needing them? Do you understand supply chains? Do you know where masks are primarily manufactured?
Have you ever thought multiple things could be true? 1. Health care workers need masks - not specifically for covid. 2. Hospitals were dealing with mask shortages, forcing them to reuse masks and do other less-than-ideal things out of necessity. 3. We thought primary covid transmissions were from touch. 4. People inexperienced with masks touch their masks and faces a lot. Health care workers have more experience with masks. 5. There was a global mask shortage. 6. We had just had a run on basic supplies like toilet paper for no reason except panic and hoarding. Why is this so complicated, unless you are just trying to force a political narrative?
We wasted 2-3 months where we could have started the process to aquire the mask. We did nothing. All the masks were sold out here starting in late Jan and Feb. A few people were hoarding them. Also, a lot of Asian folks were buying them here and sending them back to China to their family members, where they knew what was happening. Meanwhile our govt and institutions that were supposed to help us, did nothing to get masks for our healthcare workers. Jan, Feb, Mar were critical months for us to prep but we were goofing around. We had Fauci telling people masks were useless. And then we had Brix sitting there like a coward while Trump talked about injecting people with Clorox. For a country with the kind of resources that it has, our response was terrible. Trump played a big part but Fauci, Brix, and CDC directors were not blameless either.
dizzy height of stupidity by one who parrots the lies of FoxNews was silent when the Mussolini of Mar A Lago recommends people to drink cleaning solution to fight COVID
