Hmmmmm?
Trump’s people just suggested you wear them….
TRUMP”S people…
…the messaging about mask usage remains muddled. That’s true for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which updated its public recommendations to include wearing masks whenever you go out in public on the same day President Trump announced he would not be wearing one. It’s also true in the scientific community, where dueling experts both urge widespread public facemask usage and dismiss facemasks as useless and potentially dangerous…
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The mask debate is part of that big picture of uncertainty. We just don’t have data, even for the efficacy of medical grade masks in protecting against the transmission of a fluid-based virus like Ebola. The more specific the question becomes — What about cloth masks? What’s the best filter? How airborne is coronavirus, exactly? — the more hazy the data. There are studies on these issues, experts told me, but there’s not enough data to be conclusive. About the best anyone can say is that — depending on several variables like the type of mask and how well it’s used — there’s probably a small benefit to wearing masks — in preventing the wearer from spreading the virus to others.
But that still leaves plenty of space for reasonable experts to reasonably disagree. Martin and Cowling come down on opposite ends of the face mask debate. Martin, who said she has watched misuse of masks and gloves spread disease in emergency situations, believes masks can create a false sense of security. After all, we know of other times where safety measures have led people to take more risks — not fewer….