Dr. Lucky Tran Profile picture
Jun 13 4 tweets 2 min read Read on X
From @GovKathyHochul's press conference today:

"On a subway, people should not be able to hide behind a mask to commit crimes. I spoken to Mayor Adams, who's been outspoken on this issue with the MTA, with local law enforcement, and beginning conversations with the legislature."
"There's legitimate reasons why people wear face coverings. Covid or the flu, religious reasons, delivery drivers protecting themselves from the elements and festivities. I assure everyone we understand how complex this issue is." @GovKathyHochul
@GovKathyHochul A reporter asked if the mask ban would be for the subway or the ban would be broader.

@GovKathyHochul: "Subway is the primary focus right now, but also, people who are committing wearing masks, were able to commit crimes because they're now undetected."
@GovKathyHochul Reporter asks about wearing masks for COVID.

@GovKathyHochul: "You certainly have to say there are major exemptions. You know, people who are wearing surgical and N95 masks for health reasons, face coverings for religious observances, masks as part of cultural celebrations."

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More from @luckytran

Jun 13
Summary of today's @GovKathyHochul press conference where she talked about NY mask ban:

- Initial focus is subway and those commiting crimes
- Acknowledges need for health, religious, festival exemptions
- Acknowledges surgical and N95 masks are different than ski masks
There was a question about masking at protests, and while @GovKathyHochul said protesting is not a crime, it's unclear if ban would include protests that do not have a permit.
@GovKathyHochul It's also important to say that even if exemptions are included, they may be willfully misinterpreted by the cops, resulting in wrongful arrests, targeting marginalized communities, and generally scaring people away from wearing masks.
Read 4 tweets
Jun 13
UPDATE: NY Governor Kathy Hochul said on CNN last night that she is considering a ban on masks.

@GovKathyHochul this is absolutely shameful! New York has suffered so much from COVID, and COVID is not over. We should be normalize and depoliticizing masks, not banning them. Governor Hochul: There was a ban on masks before the pandemic that you couldn't have face coverings that didn't serve a purpose. For example, a surgical mask for someone who is elderly or ill — the pandemic removed that from our State Law. It was repealed at the time, but I absolutely will go back and take a look at this and see whether it can be restored because it is frightening to people. You're sitting on a subway train and someone puts on a mask like this and comes in — you don't know if they're going to be committing a crime, they're going to have a gun, or whether they're just going ...
Pre-pandemic laws banning masks from group events were always harmful. We should have learned from the pandemic that we need to do more to normalize public health tools like masks. After seeing so much death and harm that is continuing, it makes no sense to roll back mask laws.
Read 5 tweets
Jun 11
North Carolina's anti-mask bill just passed the House. It will now go to the Governor.

This is a horrible bill that narrows the health exemption for wearing a mask, and makes it easier for cops and anti-maskers to harass people into taking off their mask.
newsobserver.com/news/politics-…
Important: If you are in North Carolina, please keep wearing your mask!

The bill has not been signed into law yet. And while the language makes it easier for cops to abuse it, the bill does keep the right to mask to stop the spread of contagious disease.
They narrowed the language, so it doesn't include other health reasons like smoke and allergies, and it's unclear if higher grade masks like P100 elastomerics would be exempt in practice.

Cops may try to deliberately misinterpret so important to affirm your right to mask. "§ 14-12.11. Exemptions from provisions of Article.  Any person wearing a medical or surgical grade mask for the purpose of ensuring the physical health or safety of the wearer or others.preventing the spread of contagious disease.
Read 8 tweets
Jun 6
Update on the North Carolina anti-mask bill: The compromise bill contains problematic language, saying you can wear a mask to "prevent the spread of contagious disease."

This sounds like you can wear a mask if you already have COVID, but not to prevent yourself from getting it.
"§ 14-12.11. Exemptions from provisions of Article.  Any person wearing a medical or surgical grade mask for the purpose of ensuring the physical health or safety of the wearer or others.preventing the spread of contagious disease.
This is bad. The updated North Carolina anti-mask bill also says that anyone wearing a mask must “remove the mask upon request by a law enforcement officer or temporarily remove the mask upon request by the owner or occupant of public or private property.” Notwithstanding subdivision (a)(6) of this section, a person wearing a mask in accordance with subdivision (a)(6) of this section shall (i) remove the mask upon request by a law enforcement officer or (ii) temporarily remove the mask upon request by the owner or occupant of public or private property where the wearer is present to allow for identification of the wearer.
Also noteworthy is that the contagious disease exemption language in the updated North Carolina anti-mask bill specifies only "medical or surgical" grade masks.

That makes it unclear if more protective masks such as N95 respirators or P100 elastomerics are also exempt. "§ 14-12.11. Exemptions from provisions of Article.  Any person wearing a medical or surgical grade mask for the purpose of ensuring the physical health or safety of the wearer or others.preventing the spread of contagious disease.
Read 7 tweets
May 22
A new gold standard review of 100 studies finds:

- masks are effective in reducing transmission of respiratory diseases

- N95 respirators are significantly more effective than medical or cloth masks

- mask mandates are effective in reducing community transmission Clinical Microbiology Reviews: Masks and respirators for prevention of respiratory infections: a state of the science review
The new review showing the effectiveness of masks addresses the flawed Cochrane study, which was deliberately misinterpreted by anti-maskers & some media to spread misinformation around masks.

This new review will serve as a gold standard reference to debunk mask misinformation. The need for a new review on masks was highlighted by a widely publicized polarization in scientific opinion. The masks section of a 2023 Cochrane review of non-pharmaceutical interventions (9) was—controversially—limited to randomized controlled trials (RCTs). It was interpreted by the press and by some but not all of its own authors to mean that “masks don’t work” and “mask mandates did nothing” (10). Cochrane’s editor-in-chief felt the need to state publicly that in Cochrane’s view, the review’s findings did not support such a conclusion (11). Some scholars were quick to question the rev...
Link to "Masks and respirators for prevention of respiratory infections: a state of the science review" by @trishgreenhalgh @Globalbiosec @DFisman @jvipondmd and colleagues: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/cm…
Read 4 tweets
May 18
News: Biobot is sunsetting its COVID-19 wastewater public data visualization platform.

While Biobot will continue to publish their contextualized weekly respiratory risk reports, this represents another decrease in data transparency, and a step in the wrong direction.
The Future of Biobot’s Public Data:  With the abundance of publicly available wastewater data and our shift to contextualized respiratory risk reports, we are sunsetting our public data visualization platform (www.biobot.io/data).   This evolution represents Biobot’s commitment to maximizing the value of wastewater data. We believe that by adding context and expert analysis, we can empower individuals, communities, and public health officials to take proactive steps towards a healthier future.
I fear that the reason for removing publicly accessible data visualization is due to pressure from the government and CDC, who have made it clear in past statements that they do not like non-government scientists interpreting wastewater data.
It’s true that COVID wastewater data is complex and hard to interpret, but the solution isn’t to remove publicly accessible data, which is importantly for transparency and accountability.
Read 8 tweets

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