Funny how masks became another way we divide ourselves into two opposing tribes. The science and data for the effectiveness of cloth masks on lowering your transmission or susceptibility to viruses, let alone the Wuhan virus, is inconclusive, so I suppose it lets us argue while each side can claim the mantle of science and data. What would be really nice is if we could get some elegant experiments soon enough to guide us.
I come down firmly on the side of I don’t know, I don’t see how it hurts, so I wear a mask indoors but not outdoors. But if I don’t happen to have one and I need to go indoors, I don’t sweat it. Basically, my value proposition is the cost is low and the benefit is unknown but probably there. Full confession, I have a couple of old N95 dust masks so those are the ones I usually wear and I do think their benefit is likely and large despite age and use. So yeah, I cheat.
I do find a few things interesting about the tribes. Back at the start of this, when the recommendation was don’t wear a mask because it doesn’t help and you are depriving heroes from theirs, it was the compliant kids who were all about not wearing the mask while the rebels were all about asking why not – pointing out that people always wore masks in prior pandemics and that asian countries which were doing well against the virus all wore masks and then one day the experts said, hang on, asymptotic spreading changes everything and the whole world flipped upside down on masks. Masks don’t stop you from catching the disease, they stop you from spreading it (no word on what all those medical personnel wearing masks felt about this turn of events). Now the compliant kids are all about wearing the masks, urging others to wear a mask for the sake of their fellow man, not themselves, and the rebels are all like how did cloth become one way so that it lets the virus in my mask but doesn’t let it out of your mask and there’s no data while forgetting about all those reasons to wear one they pointed to before the experts said wear a mask. Strange.
I get the effect of the Trump distortion field on Hydroxychloroquine which means once again we divide up into tribes based on how we feel about Trump. But if you think a medicine is effective or not, or hope it’s proven to be effective or not based upon how you feel about a particular politician, you really should have your head examined. It’s almost enough to make me despair for humanity. The only sane, human, reasonable, caring position is that you hope Hydroxychloroquine is effective against COVID19 (but only rigorous efficacy trials can prove it) so that we have an effective treatment and many lives are saved and much suffering is reduced or averted. I would have preferred that gargling with hot water was effective as a whacked out viral video claimed way back in late February even though that meant that some crazy quack was right because look at how many lives would have been saved and how much suffering would have been averted if only it were true.
When the facts change, I change my mind.
