Read on Twitter
1/ At this point in the pandemic we’ve largely exited the realm of science and entered the domain of belief and human desire. This is evidenced by hugely exaggerated claims that don’t match the available evidence.
This is especially true for 1) Lockdowns and 2) Masks.
This is especially true for 1) Lockdowns and 2) Masks.
2/ Cuomo, Newsom and Fauci (here in the US) and Johnson and Ferguson (in the UK) continue to overstate and amplify claims as to the efficacy of shutdowns/lockdowns on the viral trajectory. But there’s ample evidence showing this notion to be a false.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.26.20202267v1.full.pdf
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.26.20202267v1.full.pdf
3/ Moreover, in additions to being ineffective, lockdowns are catastrophically harmful. https://time.com/5864803/oxfam-hunger-covid-19/?amp=true&__twitter_impression=true
4/ I hope masks work, they’re low cost, and there’s some intuitive logic behind them. But Fauci, Redfield, and the vast majority of Americans dramatically - comically - overstate the efficacy given the available evidence/data. And this is problematic. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/videos/health/2020/09/16/mask-protection-coronavirus-vaccine-timeline-redfield-sot-cohen-nr-vpx.cnn
5/ It’s okay for the evidence to be inconclusive if the messaging to the public is that they may help. But acting like it’s settled science, that “it’s clear,” or that all masks are equal in efficacy truly undermines the public trust. https://mobile.twitter.com/sujayjaswa/status/1312511322433576962
6/ But by wildly overstating the efficacy of masks, that they’re “more effective than a vaccine” (and vaccines truly are effective), they overplay their hand and make their claims EASIER to falsify.
Do the images below suggest an arrival of a vaccine-like intervention?
Do the images below suggest an arrival of a vaccine-like intervention?
7/ And this is why we’ve entered the realm of belief. In the face of all this robust evidence against the large-scale efficacy of lockdowns or masks, the typical reply is that the failings are because the laity just didn’t believe hard enough.
8/ To a Lockdown Believer, they didn’t work because we didn’t lockdown hard enough. Lockdown infidels ruined their efficacy!
To the Mask Believer, the failings of masks and mask mandates can only be explained by the presence of heathens.
I really hope we get back to science.
To the Mask Believer, the failings of masks and mask mandates can only be explained by the presence of heathens.
I really hope we get back to science.
