Thread by @DennyBurk

I’ve seen a study making the rounds among those who think that wearing masks doesn’t really help to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus. It’s linked below

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wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26…

I’m not trying to be controversial here. I’m open to evidence and reasonable argument, but this particular study seems to have at least two major strikes against it.

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First, the study linked above doesn’t have anything to do with the coronavirus. The study is about slowing the spread of the flu, not coronavirus.

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Additionally, the study says that “face masks might be able to reduce the transmission of other infections.” I’m no scientist, but it seems like the novel coronavirus would fall in the category of “other infections” that might be helped by masks.

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Second, the CDC actually does recommend masks, not to keep one from getting the novel coronavirus, but to keep an infected person from spreading it. The CDC bases this recommendation on several recent studies on the transmission of the coronavirus.

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cdc.gov/coronavirus/20…

The CDC guidance says this: “the virus can spread between people interacting in close proximity—for example, speaking, coughing, or sneezing—even if those people are not exhibiting symptoms.”

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cdc.gov/coronavirus/20…

Again, this recommendation from the CDC is based on actual studies of how the coronavirus spreads. And that leads to my question:

Why should a study on the spread of the flu trump a string of studies on the spread of the coronavirus?

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It seems to me that the wisest approach would be to heed to studies on the transmission of the coronavirus and thus to heed the CDC recommendations.

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I’d love to hear medical experts weigh-in on this. Thanks.

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