On April 3, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) began recommending that people wear face masks, and I wrote my first article on masks a few days later. At the time, it felt like a unique weird article – a brief distraction before I could go back to writing about Rage Against the Machine shows – but we’re reaching a year of masks being essentially the only topic I consistently write about.
As I said before, the more people wear masks incorrectly, the more time I will have to write about them. I’m happy to do that, of course, because the opportunity to contribute in such a small way during a pandemic has done more to keep me sane than anything else. But I’m sure you’d rather read an article about Rage Against the Machine’s shows now. The stakes would certainly be smaller.
To be clear, this article is not about simple things. Most of us know that the mask must cover the nose, that the masks are not a substitute for social detachment and that the masks with vents do not work. These are small things that caused confusion or made you feel that everything was lost. I promise that we will end on an uplifting note today.
Check here for more information on the best masks available and how to make the safest decision on how to use them.
Despite public confusion, the CDC guidelines have not changed
A familiar refrain during this pandemic was that the CDC’s guidelines continue to change. NBC reported this, CNN reported that the CDC was pressured to change the guidelines arbitrarily during the Trump administration, and I wrote about every small change or breakthrough that happened right here at SFGATE.
No one can be blamed for not knowing how to behave in a pandemic. After all, official councils are always changing, right?
In fact. The truth is that, while there has been steady progress in understanding how this particular coronavirus works, the guidelines have remained much the same:
- Wear the best mask you can
- Stay two meters away from everyone
- Don’t touch your face
If you want to go into detail, you can closely monitor which masks were considered the best or enter the debate between experts and government officials about whether people outside the healthcare industry should wear N95 masks, but none of this is strictly necessary. Giving your best is all that any of us can do.
This is not to minimize confusion or to leave the CDC off the hook. The messaging system needs to improve. But the actual instructions are, and always have been, quite straightforward.
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The wrong mask is not “worse than no mask”
One of the main headlines of the 2020 pandemic was the statement that wearing a neck gaiter could be worse than no mask. I’m calling the Washington Post, but I don’t intend to call them specifically: everyone has reported this particular factoid. I am calling it a “factoid” because, according to the authors of the study reported on neck gaiters, it is not true.
The truth behind the study is that particularly thin tissues, in particular situations, can increase the transmission of airborne fluids that can carry a virus. But the situation is specific and one more exception. Framing it as a general warning wears out confidence in all mask precautions. And most people only read the headlines (according to The Washington Post), so the nuance of the study’s findings is lost. People lose the truth not because they are stupid or lazy, but because they are busy – probably because we are in the middle of a pandemic.
Wearing a mask and distancing yourself socially is not easy
Since wearing masks has become the subject of party political controversy, one of the most common strategies for convincing anti-masks is to minimize how difficult it is. The NYTimes published an opinion article that said “This is not difficult”, and a hilarious PSA with Paul Rudd ended with him saying “Just wear a mask! This is not difficult! I shouldn’t have to make this fun! ”The general vibe is that only an idiot or a coward would have problems with precautions against a pandemic.
Except … ok, let’s put aside the bizarre overreactions that are continually ridiculed on YouTube, and just admit that this, in fact, sucks? I don’t think I’m being a baby when I admit that it has been difficult to avoid my friends and wear uncomfortable masks for a year. It took me a long time to find one that would not uncomfortably pull my ears or make my glasses fog up, and I don’t even suffer from the real sensation that makes people think their masks are suffocating them. And for the record: no, masks don’t really inhibit your breathing, but they still seem to do so for some people. If you are one of them, a mask frame can help.
None of this is an excuse to stop wearing masks or social detachment, and I understand that I am angry with people who resist or think that the rules do not apply to them, but we are not going to minimize the sacrifices we are all making.
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There are no perfect answers
Everyone reading this fumbled during this pandemic. They took an unnecessary risk because they were alone, bored or simply forgot. No one was perfectly cautious, 100% of the time. And even if they were, things can still go wrong if someone in your bubble misses and doesn’t tell you – or just doesn’t notice.
Do you know what else doesn’t work 100% of the time? Masks. And social distance. Even the best COVID tests do not have negligible rates of false negatives and, when you are vaccinated, you are still only 79% effective. This does not mean that science should be ignored or discarded, but even the best precautions and medications are not infallible.
In addition, pandemics exacerbate inequalities, according to anthropologist Shanti Parikh, and the ability to engage in social distance, acquire a constant supply of masks and maintain an income varies widely according to geography and economic situation. The more people you have around – whether to buy groceries or to continue earning a salary – the more you are at risk.
On top of that, I can admit that I’m not 100% sure which masks everyone should wear, and it’s my job to research that. When a Harvard Health professor disagrees with the CDC about whether or not we should use N95s, who am I to decide which side is right? Nobody knows the best answer and there is no perfect solution. It’s annoying, but it’s life.
Fortunately, there is another side that is more optimistic. While there is no magical solution to ending the pandemic, there is ample evidence that every precaution you take helps. If you wore masks, distanced yourself socially and made any other number of small or large sacrifices in the last year, then you have saved someone’s life for sure. You will never know whose life it is, or how many, but the people in your community will wake up a few more times, maybe get a tattoo or fall in love with a tap dancer or watch Rage Against the Machine. And it’s thanks to you, and you can be proud of that.
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