Obervations in the time of COVID-19, Part 3

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On March 2, 2020, I had a conversation with my wife and in-laws about the then-prevailing advice that wearing masks was not effecting at stopping the spread of novel coronavirus. In an email written and sent later that day, I called bullshit and concluded after analysis that the government was lying to cover up its incompetence. The email is reproduced below with minor edits for clarity. It turns out I was right, because now of course we should all be wearing masks when we leave our homes.

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Subject: the idiots running this clown show

Apropos of two conversations we had tonight, I looked at the whole "don't wear a mask" thing. Here's what's reported:

In fact the U.S. surgeon general recently urged the public to “STOP BUYING MASKS!” “They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!,” wrote Surgeon General Jerome Adams.

Okay, well that's a crazy statement on two levels. First is the assertion that masks are "NOT effective" at preventing transmission in the general public. That's an obvious untruth or lie, because a mask is effective at keeping airborne contaminants out of your lungs, and the virus is transmitted though in part through airborne contamination (sneezing, coughing, etc). 
But wait! It's even worse, because the very same quote goes on to say that healthcare professionals need masks to take care of sick people. So I'm supposed to believe both that masks work to prevent nurses from getting C-19, but they *don't* work to prevent you or me from getting corona? Okay.

Second, and perhaps even worse, is the other assertion about a possible shortage of masks. Ie., the other reason not to buy masks -- besides them supposedly not working -- is that then the people who need them won't be able to get them. That almost makes sense as a matter of econ 101, until you think about what the statement actually means. 

It means that the surgeon general has just told us that the government of the United States of America doesn't even have the ability to guarantee that healthcare workers have access to a simple, cheap, common, and necessary piece of protective equipment. 

The richest country in the wold is worried about running out of PPE before this damn thing even gets started. It's ... insane. And it's a magnificent display of wild incompetence. 
The federal government is trying to paper that incompetence over with a lie.

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