@luckytran Can I plead with you to stop advocating for the barely-adequate solution and start advocating for the much better in every respect solution, which is elastomerics?

More comfort, less expense, less waste, more effective, and yet the focus cannot be shifted from N95s. It's kinda disturbing at this point.

@graydon @luckytran

Can we please just get people masking, like AT ALL first? Please?

@cavyherd @luckytran Not if we're going to tell them it works and it doesn't.

N95 respirators are the minimum effective countermeasure for current circulating variants. And it's arguably a bit marginal for many N95s for long term wear or if you talk extensively.

@graydon @cavyherd @luckytran

If we're aiming for public health vs. individual health, do you see any chance that your option would garner adoption by more than a small fraction of the populace no matter how many of us advocate for it?

Let's crawl before we walk before we try sprinting.

@joeinwynnewood @cavyherd @luckytran I think I should care about the results—avoiding infection—far more than I should care about any particular behaviour.

The minimum ante for "works" is the necessary minimum for advocacy. Otherwise the advocacy does harm.

@graydon @cavyherd @luckytran

You can't separate the two when looking beyond yourself.

N95s and KN95s are certainly not perfect, but they're far better than nothing.

If we multiplied the number of people wearing quite good but not perfect masks in public indoor spaces by 10, there would be a very noticeable reduction in transmission.

If we multiplied the number of people wearing elastomeric respirators by 10, there would be a negligible change.

I see K/N95s daily. ERs? Not 1, ever.

@joeinwynnewood @cavyherd @luckytran I think you might be assuming your conclusion.

Hypothesis: granted the use of an alien mind control ray, I cause several popular right-wing influencer types to do repeated shows about COVID-induced penis shrinkage, while having them suggest that only elastomerics are likely to be effective enough to prevent this.

People would wear elastomerics.

What we're seeing now is a policy decision, not an inherent property of people.

@joeinwynnewood @cavyherd @luckytran The other thing is that "reducing the rate of transmission" isn't an appropriate objective. We know with some confidence that people don't stay functional after arbitrary COVID infections; a lower rate of transmission is a not-that-much-slower collapse.

The appropriate objective for public health is to prevent transmission. This isn't happening. If I get as far into the future as I can, maybe I'll reach functioning public health.