The Mask Mandates Did Nothing. Will Any Lessons Be Learned?

allears · on Feb 23, 2023

A guy on a bus is sitting next to another guy. Guy #2 is fondling what appears to be a small rock covered in blue paint. Guy #1 can't contain his curiosity, and says to guy #2, "What's the rock for?"

"Keeps away tigers."

"Oh, come on now, that's just silly. That's just not possible."

Guy #2, with a sly smile: "Seen any tigers lately?"

I've been wearing a mask in public since the pandemic started, and taken all available vaccinations, and I've never caught Covid. Coincidence? I don't care, works for me.

bediger4000 · on Feb 23, 2023

I'm with you.

There's also "mask mandates don't work" vs "masks don't work". They're probably not equivalent statements.

There's plenty of reasons why mandates might not work, including half the population actively undermining them.

Masks clearly work for surgeons, and hospitals have had "droplet precautions" for years that include masking.

oidar · on Feb 23, 2023

The key phrase from the cited paper is "Adherence with interventions was low in many studies."