> If CDC and the Surgeon General had wanted universal mask use, the worst possible strategy would be something like: spend two months insisting that, not only do masks not work, but buying them is unpatriotic and selfish, because we need to save them for health care workers, since masks require a hospital boundary to be effective. Just wash your hands a lot!
You know things can change, right? It's a fact that during the initial stages there was insufficient supply of masks of all kinds, and the ones most available for purchase were N95s which are still in short supply. Now surgical masks are literally given away for free at the door at Home Depot.
In retrospect, they did make mistakes (too much focus on evidence based vs. common-sense recommendations (e.g. use a homemade mask), and much focus simplify the messaging leading to a neglect of education about the subtleties of mask use).
> Then pivot, pretend universal masking was always the advice, and act shocked when the resulting cognitive dissonance coalesces into a partisan issue.
No one serious pretends that "universal masking was always the advice" (at least in the US). However, it's clear that the advice now. Like I said initially: it's kinda unreasonable to expect this should have all been figured out perfectly during the initial uncertain and chaotic period.