The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #167504 Message #4081549
Posted By: Steve Shaw
01-Dec-20 - 01:12 PM
Thread Name: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
I challenged Donuel's assertion by questioning his lack of evidence. You make your assertion, telling me to google it, by telling me to "stop quibbling." You do have form when it comes to your rather aggressive mask promotion. In fact, there is little evidence that masks outside hospital settings save many lives. There are plenty of googlable reports (try the BMJ and the Royal Society, the first two that I saw when I obediently googled it) that conclude that the negatives outweigh whatever positives there are (as ever, I tend to avoid what newspapers or popular science magazines say). Much of what you can read about this, on both sides of the argument, is no better than informed opinion, which is not evidence. You certainly can't present direct evidence, in terms of numbers, that masks are saving lives, as you assert. I can't present evidence to the contrary, either. However, it's patently obvious, just by observing people's behaviour, that poor compliance with the rules for how masks should be used is rife. Not only that, it's highly likely that mask wearing gives a false sense of security to many people. I've noticed (without actually looking for trouble) that quite a lot of mask-wearers ignore social distancing in shops and neglect to clean either their hands or supermarket trolley handles on their way in. It's likely that they are largely the same people who misuse their masks. Once again, I'm simply questioning the efficacy of mask wearing in the community. I'm not an anti-mask campaigner or a rebel and I cheerfully do what most people do, i.e., wear a mask where required. If I feel sceptical about other people's assertions, I put my hands on my hips and say, where's your evidence? I don't accuse them of quibbling. Cheers.
This post contains unsubstantiated opinion and untrue information about the safety involved in wearing face masks during the time of COVID-19.