they didn't want people to wear masks because they were afraid there wouldn't be enough for health care workers!
of course, people panicked & masks disappeared from shelves
there ARE enough masks now since many businesses got into making masks
Fauci says public not told to wear masks due to PPE shortages | Daily Mail Online
^ "Dr. Fauci reveals public weren't told to wear masks at start of coronavirus pandemic because of fears of shortages for healthcare workers "
The reason is they are useless against viruses.
In fact actual statements by medical doctors say that the general public infects themselves putting on and taking off masks, which are not designed for long term usage, but to be worn for a short time in a hospital environment, when in with infected patients, and discarding them.
Here’s what NBC news and the surgeon general had to say iabout mask wearing by the general public:
But some experts say a mask may give the user a false sense of security. And the eyes — an important pathway for the virus to infect a person — remain exposed even though the mouth and nose are covered.
Surgeon General Jerome Adams has been outspoken against healthy people wearing masks or other coverings in public.
Regarding masks:
@WHO @CDCgov & my office have consistently recommended against the general public wearing masks as there is scant or conflicting evidence they benefit individual wearers in a meaningful way, but real concerns about pulling from the healthcare worker supply...
pic.twitter.com/uvjT31ZGt7
— U.S.
Surgeon General (@Surgeon_General) March 28, 2020
"@WHO @CDCgov and my office have consistently recommended against the general public wearing masks as there is scant or conflicting evidence they benefit individual wearers in a meaningful way," Adams wrote on Twitter.
Facial coverings must also be changed and washed often. And if a mask gets wet, even from the moisture emitted when a person exhales, the fabric could be more likely to transmit the virus.
"Once the mask becomes moist, you don't want to touch your face or the mask because you have to assume it's contaminated," Poland said. Handmade masks can be laundered appropriately in regular home washing machines, he added.
What the World Health Organization [WHO] and the CDC [The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] have reaffirmed in the last few days is that they do not recommend the general public wear masks.”
“On an individual level, there was a study in 2015 looking at medical students and medical students wearing surgical masks touch their face on average 23 times,” Adams explained. “
We know a major way that you can get respiratory diseases like coronavirus is by touching a surface and then touching your face so wearing a mask improperly can actually increase your risk of getting disease.”
When you add to the above the dozen studies showing equal rates of infection between masked and unmasked people, it’s RIDICULOUS for them to insist we must wear those useless face-diapers.
