Into the Pandemic - Morning Rant # 1

I should know better than to use Facebook.  Many really great people are out there bolstering everyone spirits, trying to find humour in the face of societal upheaval and passing on useful tips, but..... there are others......

This is my response to one class of post that I've seen in the past few days:

Over the past couple of days, I've seen a number of posts criticizing Canada's public health officials for their position in not recommending face masks. Terms like "flip-flopping", "slow to act" and so on.... To those making such posts, I have this to say: 

It must be nice to be the kind of person who, when asked to make a decision about something that is completely unprecedented, and to make that decision without much information and data, it must be nice to never, ever, have made a bad call. Or to have made a decision that you might have to change later on, once you had more information. 

Canada's public health people have been doing an incredible job in the face of limited and rapidly changing information. If they make decisions, they are at least based on the best data they have at the time, unlike - very unlike - some of the statements that come from the mouths of certain "leaders" in some other countries. Canada's public health people are not soothsayers or people who can see the future. They have no magical powers. They can only apply their training (which, I'm sure I don't need to point out, most of us DO NOT have), and their experience, using only the data they have available, in making decisions that will have huge implications on the lives of millions of Canadians. And for which they will accept responsibility, again, unlike certain other "leaders".

          Unless YOU think you could function better in such an environment, you really need to STFU. 

As for the issue at hand, face masks. The best advice we can all follow is to wash our hands, try to not touch our faces and stay away from people we don't already live with. Face masks, unless you're talking about special N95 masks, will do almost nothing to prevent YOU from inhaling the virus. Wearing something on your face might help prevent you from spreading droplets that could pass the virus on to others. But they will not allow you to revert to life as normal prior to this outbreak. Most of us do not know how to use masks properly anyway. As evidenced by people's careless actions with gloves and such, we don't seem to know how to dispose of them either. There aren't enough face masks to go around, even if they were useful in some way. Masks ARE needed by people in high-risk situations like health-care workers. Their needs MUST come first. 

Honestly, people, let's not let our anal orifice get ahead of our critical thinking skills.

[Update - April 10th]

In an article from the Toronto Sun, adding to the bitching about masks, flip-flops, ad infinitum....  I posted the following comment to their page:

Sorry, Sun. Once again, you've either got it wrong or you've glossed over important considerations on this issue. First and foremost - there apparently is a limited supply of the only masks that will actually trap the virus (N95 masks viruses 95%). Healthcare workers need them. Very few of the general public do. Second, the masks will NOT protect you from the virus (unless you have an N95 mask and you're happy with the 95% effectiveness) so they won't life to "return to normal". The masks will help stop the spread of water droplets that carry the virus, thus helping to prevent transmission to others. Third, most people have NO CLUE how to use these masks properly. There are many, many anecdotal reports of people touching the masks, not covering the nose and the mouth, wearing them under their chin, not fitting them tightly enough and lifting them up to lick their fingers, for Pete's sake. Fourth, studies on viral persistence on various surfaces have found that they will "survive" on surgical masks for up to 7 days, making them a potential hotbed of viral contamination. Fifth, people aren't disposing of their gloves properly. They're discarding them in parking lots, in parks, on the streets. In what parallel universe do you believe people are going to dispose of these possibly contaminated masks any better? As a media outlet, these are just some of the issues you could have addressed, but instead, you chose to undermine public health officials who are trying to make decisions in the bet interests of the public at large AND the healthcare system, all with limited and rapidly changing information. Frankly, we should be able to expect better of you. Please try to up your game here.