If public policy is based on “the science” regarding wearing masks to slow the spread of COVID-19, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is making it harder for the residents of his beleaguered state to figure exactly what the science is.
“Going out to eat with members of your household this weekend? Don’t forget to keep your mask on in between bites. Do your part to keep those around you healthy,” says a tweet from the governor’s office.
The image accompanying the tweet, however, poses a dilemma for residents of the Golden State.
It’s titled “COVD-19 DINER TIP 1: Minimize the number of times you take your mask off.”
But Newsom’s guidence would substantially increase the number of times masks are removed.
“This violates the @WHO ‘Dont’s of Mask wearing,'” wrote a Twitter user who supplied a World Health Organization graphic advising people to avoid touching their mask and to wash their hands before touching their mask and after discarding it.
Many counties in California currently limit indoor restaurants to 25% of capacity or outdoor dining only.
Going out to eat with members of your household this weekend? Don’t forget to keep your mask on in between bites.
Do your part to keep those around you healthy. #SlowtheSpreadhttps://t.co/snYe5v55Rw pic.twitter.com/Y4fcDO5Zke
— Office of the Governor of California (@CAgovernor) October 3, 2020
The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons has compiled a page of “Mask Facts” that explains the basic science behind mask wearing and summarizes a variety of studies.
It shows that the consensus prior to the coronavirus pandemic was that the effectiveness of mask-wearing by the general public in slowing the spread of a virus is unproven, and there’s evidence it does more harm than good.
On April 6, the World Health Organization said the “wide use of masks by healthy people in the community setting is not supported by current evidence and carries uncertainties and critical risks.”
Just two months, later, however, as the pandemic surged, the WHO changed its stance without providing any evidence with radomized controlled trials.
On March 5, the Centers for Disease Control said masks “are usually not recommended in “non-health care settings.”
But on Aug. 7, the CDC said it “recommends that people wear masks in public settings and when around people who don’t live in your household, especially when other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.”
