Timeline for Why are masks a political topic in the US?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
13 events
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| Oct 25, 2020 at 12:15 | history | edited | agc | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Named SG, and provided later context.
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| Oct 22, 2020 at 19:06 | comment | added | DoctorDestructo | I think this answer may be somewhat obsolete. Since Trump contracted the virus, it seems to me that the preferred argument of conservatives has switched from "masks aren't effective" to "the virus isn't that dangerous, and spreading it is actually a good thing because it will give us herd immunity." | |
| Oct 22, 2020 at 14:34 | history | edited | Machavity | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Clarified a number of things based on comments
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| Oct 21, 2020 at 21:17 | comment | added | john doe | There are masks designed for biological warfare which are more effective than N95, N95 have the best balance of effectiveness and convenience | |
| Oct 21, 2020 at 18:33 | comment | added | Joel Hines | LA has acknowledged that protests probably caused a spike in Covid cases. The evidence isn't strong, because contact tracing is hard, but I was suspicious when the linked article didn't acknowledge LAs response. capradio.org/articles/2020/07/21/… | |
| Oct 21, 2020 at 18:25 | comment | added | Abion47 | There's an important distinction to be made here. People weren't told not to wear masks. Healthy people were told that they didn't need to wear masks. It's also important to note that the changing factor was the discovery that the majority of people who caught COVID were asymptomatic but still contagious, which is when the recommendation changed to say that everyone should wear a mask on the off-chance that they were infected without knowing. | |
| Oct 20, 2020 at 21:41 | comment | added | SurpriseDog | @Machavity Here's another source for your answer: The Epidemiologist Ian Lipkin actually withheld a scientific study showing masks cause a 70% reduction in viral transmission: (@ 33 minutes in) microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-special-lipkin - This should be considered scientific fraud. | |
| Oct 20, 2020 at 15:39 | history | edited | divibisan | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 1 character in body
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| Oct 20, 2020 at 15:37 | comment | added | divibisan | That's a good point – even if it didn't politicize masks specifically, it could politicize COVID-19 response in general, which includes masks. As for the response to the BLM protests, I guess it looks very different from different angles. Otherwise, howe else would you get the Seattle mayor, for example, simultaneously called an anarchist and a pro-police fascist. | |
| Oct 20, 2020 at 14:58 | comment | added | Machavity | The connection is that if the protest regulations were viewed as being used politically it's not a huge leap for some people to assume that the mask mandates are doing the same thing, even if they are not truly the same issue. As to the BLM protests and the police response, it's a mixed bag there, with some protests turning violent without police overreaction. The point there is some places that were the strictest in lockdown went out of their way to issue rules permitting BLM protests. Even the NYT (which I linked) had to note that. | |
| Oct 20, 2020 at 14:47 | comment | added | divibisan | Also, it's not totally accurate that BLM protests were allowed to go on. While politicians words were vaguely supportive, even in the most liberal cities, the police violently suppressed the protests right from the beginning. Also, didn't the "Reopen" protests begin well before the BLM protests? Reopen Michigan was on 4/15 while George Floyd's death wasn't until 5/25 | |
| Oct 20, 2020 at 14:42 | comment | added | divibisan | I'm not sure I 100% see the connection between protests and masks. I can certainly see why the protests might lead people to oppose lockdowns and gathering restrictions, but there were no inconsistencies on mask guidance. Governments strongly encouraged masks and protesters wore them, which is likely why there was no spike in infections. I would have expected the response to the BLM protests to lead to a pro-mask, pro-reopening movement based on the argument that the protests show that density is safe with a mask. | |
| Oct 20, 2020 at 13:27 | history | answered | Machavity | CC BY-SA 4.0 |