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A comment on Why the Arabic world turned away from science (2011). Parent comment

Re:Why the Arabic world turned away from science (2011) by helen___keller on Friday October 09, 2020 @11:24AM (#24730758)
If covid-19 were containable, then average people don't need masks. This isn't new territory: we've contained infectious diseases before, like SARS and ebola, and average Joe didn't need a mask then, either.

The CDC (and frankly every major government in the world) believed that covid-19 could be contained, and that no major outbreak would happen inside their country. This was incorrect. But if you hold this assumption, the CDC made the correct recommendation: N95 masks, properly worn, are the masks that protect against covid-19, and average people don't need them.

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Re:Why the Arabic world turned away from science (2011) by hnaccy on Friday October 09, 2020 @11:38AM (#24730955)
If covid-19 were contained why would there be a mask shortage? Transmission in the general population seems necessary to cause a nationwide shortage in first place.

>The CDC (and frankly every major government in the world) believed that covid-19 could be contained

There's plenty of photos from asian countries where mask use was immediate, wide spread, and effective.

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