Your rebuttal is false on all three counts and I'll be glad towhip out references and links if we want to go at it.
1. At the time they said masks were ineffective, they had known for decades that masks were effective which is why healthcare workers wear masks and they are commonly worn in many Asian countries.
2. No, these experts said "ineffective", not less effective. I can provide quotes. It's irrelevant why masks prevent spread - if whether they prevent the sick person from spreading it or the healthy person from catching it - bottom line is they prevent spread and would have resulted in far fewer cases. They have known since early February - a month before it became a problem here - that mean pre-symptomatic period was over 5 days and that victim was contagious during this period. Without the ability to know who is contagious, the correct response is to assume everyone is contagious.
3. A lie told with the best intentions is still a lie. It destroys credibility and when they later decide to come clean and tell the truth, people wonder if they are telling another lie for yet other good intentions. Is 6' proper distancing? Or will we find out in a few months they knew all along it was 12' but lied to us for good reasons?
Surgeon General Jerome Adams tweeted Feb 29 "Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS! They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching
#Coronavirus". Then a few days later on Face The Nation said "“Masks do not work for the general public,” he told host Margaret Brennan. Adams suggested instead that Americans “stay safe by washing your hands.
