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A comment on The science of mask-wearing hasn’t changed, so why have our expectations?. Parent comment

Re:The science of mask-wearing hasn’t changed, so why have o... by merpnderp on Saturday July 04, 2020 @12:15AM (#23730066)
That’s not the primary reason. They selfishly wanted to protect mask supplies for medical use and so spread FUD around public mask usage. It was criminal and people should be held accountable. Masks work for some value and whatever that value is, it accumulates as more people wear masks, and the idiots in charge gave up months of that reduction so that people wouldn’t buy up all the masks at Home Depot. Only they still bought all the masks, and then used the CDC’s own FUD as their own to not wear them and convince everyone else not to wear them.
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Re:The science of mask-wearing hasn’t changed, so why have o... by paulsutter on Saturday July 04, 2020 @12:41AM (#23730169)
When I bought my N95 masks in mid february, every Home Depot has already been cleared out and the masks sent to China where they were valuable. I had to visit 5 stores to buy a few leftover.

That was well before the CDC and surgeon general were telling people masks are bad for you don’t buy them. The masks were long gone by then.

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Re:The science of mask-wearing hasn’t changed, so why have o... by thaumasiotes on Saturday July 04, 2020 @01:13AM (#23730296)
> That’s not the primary reason. They selfishly wanted to protect mask supplies for medical use and so spread FUD around public mask usage.

No, this is specifically addressed in the SSC piece. The CDC has been against masks for many years; their advice on masks this year was the same advice they've always given. There is absolutely no reason to believe they put any further thought into it than that.

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Re:The science of mask-wearing hasn’t changed, so why have o... by lsiebert on Saturday July 04, 2020 @12:52AM (#23730204)
I don't consider that selfish. It's like Triage. Healthy doctors and other medical professionals are of special importance in a pandemic, and preserving supplies of protective equipment for them was especially important.
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Re:The science of mask-wearing hasn’t changed, so why have o... by buildbot on Saturday July 04, 2020 @01:01AM (#23730252)
It’s selfish when the advice isn’t “we need n95s, everyone else please at least pull your shirt over your nose”

White lies are still lies that cause people to lose faith in any advice you might have.

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Re:The science of mask-wearing hasn’t changed, so why have o... by watwut on Saturday July 04, 2020 @02:15AM (#23730512)
Given how easy it is to create home made mask which is better then none, it is absurd.
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Re:The science of mask-wearing hasn’t changed, so why have o... by oezi on Saturday July 04, 2020 @03:12AM (#23730703)
For what is worth: many health authorities world-wide have used the same strategy (conserve mask for healthcare by not advocating/dissuading their use). Taiwan and Korea being notable outliers.

So it is not that the CDC was malicious / selfish / conspiring. They did what they believed was the best policy response. Even if we know better now that they should have just published instructions on making community masks and advocating their use.

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