Of course we should all be wearing masks. Nonetheless, there aren't enough. So give your masks to the people who need them most: health care workers. The advice doesn't actually change--but it would have been better to be honest with the public about this from the start. I think.
Unless we actually have evidence that people will keep the masks even when they learn we haven't enough to go around, in which case, the public health imperative is to lie--but it's hard to weigh the long-term cost of diminished public trust.
That said, the public is already used to hearing lies and already doesn't trust what officials say, so there's not much trust to squander. Probably "lying" was the public health imperative--
And unless you think lying is *inherently wrong* (I do), they made the right choice.
And unless you think lying is *inherently wrong* (I do), they made the right choice.
