If you are still confused about wearing masks you are not alone. So says Nina Bai from University of California, San Francisco. She spoke to epidemiologist George Rutherford, MD. He said the U.S. was not culturally ready to wear them when COVID arrived. And even now some of us are still choosing to ignore official advice. Let’s get back to basics. Why are masks still controversial?
Why Was There a Time Lag in Asking Us to Wear Them?
Large private organizations, and governments do not respond quickly to change. They are also mindful their stakeholders don’t like sudden pattern shifts either. Perhaps that’s why U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) initially soft-pedaled face masks. But that was only for as long as they underestimated the extent of the pandemic. And they therefore did not want to cause unnecessary inconvenience.
Then they changed their minds about this policy after case numbers began to increase steeply. And they realized many infected people were not displaying symptoms. However, those same people could still infect other people, and make them gravely ill without realizing it.
CDC and WHO made the right decision when they mandated face masks. But, they failed to convince all their stakeholders to follow their lead. This shifting advice could be one reason why you are still confused about the logic of wearing face masks.
Perhaps You Are Still Confused Whether Masks Work?
Laboratory studies show speaking a few words releases several hundreds of droplets of moisture. And some of these could carry a virus. Although even a damp washcloth could block most of the flow researchers found.
There’s also evidence surgical masks trap viruses from people with colds or influenza. This information leads to the conclusion face masks should also block COVID viruses too.
But perhaps the strongest evidence comes from a study reported by Health Affairs website. Researchers tracked new COVID infection rates in 15 U.S. states and Washington DC. And they did so before and after mask mandates became a feature of American life.
The daily infection rates in those areas declined after the introduction of mandates. Nothing else significant changed. This sounds like case closed to us. We hope you understand why we still need to wear face masks. If indeed you were unsure about this previously.
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