Dr. Fauci in March. “When we get in a situation where we have enough masks, I believe there will be some very serious consideration about more broadening this recommendation of using masks. We're not there yet, but I think we're close to coming to some determination. Because if, in fact, a person who may or may not be infected wants to prevent infecting someone else, one of the best ways to do that is with a mask, so perhaps that's the way to go.” [1]
His 60 Minutes interview, also in March. “There’s no reason to be walking around with a mask. When you’re in the middle of an outbreak, wearing a mask might make people feel a little bit better and it might even block a droplet, but it’s not providing the perfect protection that people think that it is. And, often, there are unintended consequences — people keep fiddling with the mask and they keep touching their face.”
There is a reason for the heavily campaigned “My mask protects you. Your mask protects me.” A mask’s benefit is in preventing an infected person from infecting others much more so than protecting an uninfected person from unmasked infected people. Masks come with risks. People tend to touch their face more while wearing masks, and contracting the virus by touching your face is a primary infection mode. People tend to relax other more effective protection methods when wearing a mask, both unconsciously and due to a false belief in the protective capabilities of a mask.
With a pandemic where the virus is spreading via asymptomatic people, masks are effective with largescale adoption for “herd immunity” effect. So telling people with a false confidence that their mask is not protecting them the way they think it does is true. Telling people that masks are not advised right now when there is not enough supply for the prophylactic effect is true. People choosing to deliberately misinterpret what was communicated is the real problem.
His 60 Minutes interview, also in March. “There’s no reason to be walking around with a mask. When you’re in the middle of an outbreak, wearing a mask might make people feel a little bit better and it might even block a droplet, but it’s not providing the perfect protection that people think that it is. And, often, there are unintended consequences — people keep fiddling with the mask and they keep touching their face.”
There is a reason for the heavily campaigned “My mask protects you. Your mask protects me.” A mask’s benefit is in preventing an infected person from infecting others much more so than protecting an uninfected person from unmasked infected people. Masks come with risks. People tend to touch their face more while wearing masks, and contracting the virus by touching your face is a primary infection mode. People tend to relax other more effective protection methods when wearing a mask, both unconsciously and due to a false belief in the protective capabilities of a mask.
With a pandemic where the virus is spreading via asymptomatic people, masks are effective with largescale adoption for “herd immunity” effect. So telling people with a false confidence that their mask is not protecting them the way they think it does is true. Telling people that masks are not advised right now when there is not enough supply for the prophylactic effect is true. People choosing to deliberately misinterpret what was communicated is the real problem.
[1] https://www.axios.com/anthony-fauci-masks-coronavirus-f77c30...