# If you (individual or country) are still masking, why will you ever stop? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [February 10, 2023, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-individual-or-country-are-still-masking-why-will-you-ever-stop/979554 "2023-02-10T01:17:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 84
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2023, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-individual-or-country-are-still-masking-why-will-you-ever-stop/979554/84 "2023-02-11T19:53:40Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > It can be done, and it could have/should have been done. And it _was_ done! Numbers and statistics abound! Maybe you weren’t exposed to the right news sources? Did you forget to subscribe to the COVID mailing list for MBAs? These are the results of a quick Google search from 2020, which means they are way outdated but also exactly what you are saying should have happened. And we didn’t even have large scale studies testing how effective masks were against the virus until what, October, November? > **[Does Wearing a Mask Prevent the Flu?](https://www.healthline.com/health/cold-flu/mask)** > > Learn when masks can help and what other hygiene measures to take for prevention. > The CDC says a data analysis shows that just a 15 percent increase in mask wearing could prevent the need for lockdowns and help reduce economic losses up to $1 trillion. > **[Wear a mask: You could help save 66,000 lives in the US](https://www.livescience.com/wearing-masks-save-tens-thousands-lives.html)** > > Something so simple can have an extraordinary impact. > **[Masks save lives: Here's what you need to know - Harvard Health](https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/masks-save-lives-heres-what-you-need-to-know-2020111921466)** > > Evidence shows that mask-wearing can help reduce spread of COVID-19 infections, keep waves of serious illness from overburdening our hospitals, and save lives. Masks also help protect us aga... > **[Global projections of lives saved from COVID-19 with universal mask use](https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.10.08.20209510v2.full)** > > BACKGROUND Social distancing mandates (SDM) have reduced health impacts from COVID-19 but also resulted in economic downturns that have led many nations to relax SDM. Until deployment of an efficacious and equitable vaccine, intervention options to... ETA: As for the high profile public messaging, there were political considerations for the CDC director. Specifically regarding messaging of masks saving lives. Remember this? > **[CDC director says masks save lives. Trump says he’s 'confused.’](https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/09/16/cdc-director-says-masks-will-save-lives-trump-says-hes-confused/)** > > The president contradicts one of the government’s top health experts, who says masks are an effective option until a vaccine is ready. ETA2: You may be interested in the discussion we had _here_, at the time, and the many cites given. > [@To Mask or Not to Mask, that is the Question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-mask-or-not-to-mask-that-is-the-question/917910): > > Most of us have accepted that masks help avoid spreading COVID-19, mostly protecting others from the wearer. Many US states have implemented some version of mask mandates. But it’s been mixed messages, and contradictory information all the way. My wife and I have been wearing masks in any indoor place with other people since at least mid-March, maybe earlier. It seems the logical thing to do. But let’s question the common knowledge. If I was just waking up from an 8 month coma, where do I start… ~Max --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-individual-or-country-are-still-masking-why-will-you-ever-stop/979554)._