Zeynep Tufekci on Masks

Looks like it's another COVID-19 day here at Daughter Number Three. Today, I want to share a long Twitter thread from techno-sociologist and writer-thinker Zeynep Tufekci, professor at University of North Carolina and writer for places like The Atlantic and the New York Times.

Her original post is full of links to articles illustrating its points, so visit it, but this gets the main points across:

For the New York Times, I wrote about why health authorities telling people they didn't need masks, and, besides they wouldn't wear them right, misfired and maybe even fueled hoarding. There will be many painful truths, and we need to learn to talk about them.

One big reason we don't have enough masks is that not only did China stop exporting them completely after COVID-19, China went and "bought up much of the rest of the world's supply." We should have ramped up domestic production in January but we didn't.

Sadly all those (well-meaning) posts from healthcare experts on how masks won't work for ordinary people because they won't wear them correctly likely encouraged hoarding even more. That was never a message that would work. No wonder I'm constantly seeing online ads for masks!

This is so obvious that it's painful. I know my piece will upset some, but learning to deal with painful truths is one of the skills we really need to learn, especially as there are so many of them exposed now.

Not forgetting that the Chinese government unleashed this pandemic in the first place with initial lies and cover-up: not racist. Claiming that universal mask wearing in Hong Kong and Taiwan (where it is mostly under control) was just superstition? Yeah.

Authorities say Don't wear a mask unless you're sick but DO wear a mask if you are. How are you supposed to know? Plus, see key paper: many have mild, undetected illnesses but are infecting others. Universal mask-wearing *would* have helped. Painful truth is we don't have enough.

Also, everyone who wrote...articles [claiming Asian mask-wearing was based on superstition], please rethink the harm of this message. The weird claim that people in Asian countries (where this pandemic is much more under control) with the deep experience of SARS wore masks out of superstition is part of the reason we are here.

New paper: Hong Kong has not only contained COVID-19 for the moment, they've drastically reduced flu rates with social distancing, hygiene and near universal mask wearing. (Note: their government is unpopular and wasn't on board. The people acted anyway.)

Taiwan also quickly ramped up domestic production of masks and had a sensible plan to curb hoarding while ensuring access. Along with other sensible and non-draconian measures, they also contained COVID-19 for the moment despite a lot of travel with China.

This is another important point. The "flatten-the-curve" urgency will eventually lead to "life must go on while we wait for vaccines/herd-immunity" and some form of mask-wearing may well be necessary for the transition.

Yep. That's why we can't just say "wear masks only if you're sick." Besides the fact that we're not testing enough so people can't know if they're sick, and that many can be infectious without any symptoms, it just creates a stigma around wearing a mask.

We are eventually going to have to release people from lockdown, and universal mask wearing (not N95, but surgical masks) is one way to do it with less harm. (She then links to a doctor's thread on asymptomatic people.)

Folks don't @ me BUT do it: arrange locally to allow people to donate N95 masks to hospitals, maybe exchange with surgical masks. Hospitals are out of N95s; CDC is telling them to use surgical masks instead; people are sitting on N95s but I'm hearing some willing to donate/exchange.

Washington Post published another masks are superstition oped, so I’ll just put this here instead. (Screen snapshots of skeptical WaPo tweets.) The tragedy of this kind of top-down misinformation is when we are done with the shortage, how are they going to tell everybody to mask up? As they have to if we are to get through this? (Folks don’t hoard and donate N95s now).

I'm going to say it outright. It's crystal clear that we'll have to adopt universal mask wearing as soon as we're over the shortage for healthcare workers. People still saying masks don't help, people won't know how to wear them, they can be harmful etc. are doing real harm.

Not admitting the obvious fuels mistrust and hoarding more. People aren’t idiots. And once the shortage is over, it’s going to be tough to switch to universal mask wearing, which is obviously a requirement to get through the next year.

Local friends, UNC hospitals need donations of N95 masks and other supplies. It's a travesty we can't protect our healthcare workers despite months of warning. Also, if you needed proof any mask is better than none: they will accept homemade masks as well.

The sooner we stop misinforming people about the need and efficacy of universal mask wearing, the better. Not telling the truth now will make it harder to pivot after the mask shortage. Also people can see through the bullshit and mistrust fuels hoarding.

This top-down mask misinformation will cause another crisis: other critical workers (stores, pharmacies, delivery) will stop showing up because lack of masks means they are at high risk. Yes, hospitals first but then everyone at the front line and then all of us need to mask up.

Great overview of the evidence on masks. Notes that review of SARS studies (same family of virus as the one causing COVID-19) found that "face masks were the most consistently effective intervention" (though keep washing your hands). Read it yourself!

Hong Kong is the densest city in the world. It has a tiny fraction of New York’s cases. Almost everyone wears masks though and they take the distancing seriously.

Future generations will be driven batty by the amount of concern over contamination from cardboard boxes—a tail risk: porous surface, exponential decay—compared with protecting the pathways to OUR RESPIRATORY SYSTEM WITH MASKS FOR A RESPIRATORY ILLNESS WITH ASYMPTOMATIC SPREAD.

Mask-wearing was part of the picture in the article I featured yesterday as well. I'm convinced.

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And a cartoon from the Star-Tribune's Steve Sack, about misinformation of a different kind:






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If you don't already know the WAFA hat, here is the explanation.