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Comment by jws | Hacker News Reader

The WHO rationale on masks includes not emboldening people to go out in less than effective masks. Isolation is better at stopping the spread than slightly slowing the spread with masks.

It’s also worth noting that there isn’t a straightforward way to map particle blocking ratio of a mask to probability of becoming infected.

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The article makes a good point about wearing masks being a reminder to people that "things are not normal". So I would say that saying "masks are not necessary" actually serves the reverse purpose of emboldening people to go out because it's not quite that serious yet.

> The WHO rationale on masks includes not emboldening people to go out in less than effective masks.

That logic is deeply flawed in my opinion. Sure, any sort of protective gear might give a false sense of security. However, people still need to get out, and odds are some of them already carry the virus. Getting a filter between them and the world is an effective way to contain the spread. After all, some efficiency is far better than completely unobstructed access, right?

This whole "rationale" of feeding people noble lies so that some fleeting, temporary gain can be had for the next few days or weeks, comes at the expense of destroying their credibility in the public's eye and thereby making any expert advice they might offer in the future far less convincing and effective.

Yeah, when you say any kind of masks works, you will get someone comes in and say:

WHO says masks are not effective. Also, do you have source that says masks work?

I actually don't know how to reply to that.

Fortunately, Cambridge published a research about DIY mask against influenza.

Then, that person will say that's not covid. They aren't the same thing.

Science wins, I guess.

We cant say masks work without scientific research backing it up.

The message should be that simple, non-N95/FFP3 masks only have minor protective effect for the wearer, but can significantly reduce the spread of droplets by the wearer and protect others around them. Furthermore, wearing masks in populated public places should not be a recommendation, it should be enforced.

There is also reason to believe that enforcing wearing of masks in public spaces INCREASES social distancing, because people are less likely to slip into an illusion of normality in certain places.

Is there science behind that WHO rationale? Trying to use mass psychological tricks instead of direct communication also has a big cost because it reduces people's trust in authorities which can lead to more deaths.

Scott Alexander thinks it's because the WHO uses the phrase "not effective" to say masks haven't been scientifically proven to protect against COVID-19 specifically and beyond any reasonable doubt, while the media interprets this to mean that they're "not effective" as in there's evidence against the effectiveness of masks.

https://slatestarcodex.com/2020/03/23/face-masks-much-more-t...

This WHO rationale is bizarre.

I have to go out to buy stuff periodically. What do I do?

Should I wear any kind of mask or not?

According to WHO guideline, I should not wear masks....

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