Quote:
Originally Posted by IndyNorm
While scientists are learning more about the virus itself everyday, masks have been around for centuries if not millennia. You would think epidemiologists would have had data on the uses of masks in similar types of virus outbreaks to make a better recommendation than urging people not to wear them. At the very least they should have been able to put together Asia=masks=minimal outbreak, Europe=no masks=shit hitting the fan.
Anyway, I agree that Trump is part of the problem and that anti-maskers are ricockulous. I was just answering the question as to how mask wearing became politicized in the first place.
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Partly the issue was that in the beginning they had no idea there was symptom-free transmission, meaning people could be positive with the virus, not experience symptoms, and still transmit this virus.
The advise originally was "if you are sick, quarantine yourself and wear a mask if you have to go out" which was before they discovered symptomless transmission.
Oh and you're wrong about the history of masks. Up until the early 1900s, doctors did not wear masks nor did they wash their hands, and were offended when it was suggested that they should do both.
The closest things to masks before then were those weird bird masks they wore during the plague, but that was just based on the "bad air" myth (the masks contained perfumes and incense thought to cleanse the air) and the plague was bloodborne anyway (fleas) so those didn't work at all.