The Atlantic
The Dudes Who Won’t Wear Masks
Face coverings are a powerful tool, but health authorities can’t simply ignore the reasons some people refuse to use them.
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Nature
Face masks: what the data say
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~12 min read · 320 saves · 2020-10-06 · The science supports that face coverings save lives, and yet the debate trundles on. How much evidence is enough?
The Telegraph
Face masks could be giving people Covid-19 immunity, researchers suggest
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1 min read · 86 saves · 2020-09-12 · Mask wearing might also be reducing the severity of the virus and ensuring that a greater proportion of new infections are asymptomatic
Nature
Respiratory virus shedding in exhaled breath and efficacy of face masks
Nature
~20 min read · 269 saves · 2020-04-03 · A study of 246 individuals with seasonal respiratory virus infections randomized to wear or not wear a surgical face mask showed that masks can significantly reduce detection of coronavirus and…
BBC News (World)
The reasons why people become incompetent at work
BBC News (World)
7 min read · 303 saves · 2020-06-16 · Why are so many people so bad at what they do? The ‘Peter Principle’ may explain.
The New York Times
Why Telling People They Don’t Need Masks Backfired
The New York Times
6 min read · 171 saves · 2020-03-17 · To help manage the shortage, authorities sent a message that made them untrustworthy.
The Atlantic
We Don’t Have Enough Face Masks
The Atlantic
6 min read · 58 saves · 2020-01-30 · Pandemics will require recognizing who needs respirators and surgical masks, and who doesn’t.
PNASNews
Face masks considerably reduce COVID-19 cases in Germany
PNASNews
98 saves · 2020-12-03 · Mitigating the spread of COVID-19 is the objective of most governments. It is of utmost importance to understand how effective various public health measures are. We study the effectiveness of face masks. We employ public regional data about reported severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections for Germany. As face masks became mandatory at different points in time across German regions, we can compare the rise in infections in regions with masks and regions without masks. Weighing various estimates, we conclude that 20 d after becoming mandatory face masks have reduced the number of new infections by around 45%. As economic costs are close to zero compared to other public health measures, masks seem to be a cost-effective means to combat COVID-19.
We use the synthetic control method to analyze the effect of face masks on the spread of COVID-19 in Germany. Our identification approach exploits regional variation in the point in time when wearing of face masks became mandatory in public transport and shops. Depending on the region we consider, we find that face masks reduced the number of newly registered severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections between 15% and 75% over a period of 20 days after their mandatory introduction. Assessing the credibility of the various estimates, we conclude that face masks reduce the daily growth rate of reported infections by around 47%.
Public health data have been deposited in FigShare (<https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13065920>). All study data are included in the paper and [ SI Appendix ][1].
[1]: https://www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.2015954117/-/DCSupplemental
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The Masks Masquerade
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
6 min read · 92 saves · 2020-06-14 · Incompetence and Errors in Reasoning Around Face Covering
The Verge
Face masks are breaking facial recognition algorithms, says new government study
The Verge
4 min read · 142 saves · 2020-07-28 · If you’re worried about mass surveillance, here’s another reason to wear a face mask
