The Hongcouver | Coronavirus: End Canada’s face mask misdirection. It is preposterous
- Advice by Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam that ‘putting a mask on an asymptomatic person is not beneficial’ flies in the face of evidence and logic
- Canada could follow the lead of east Asian nations that have prioritised face mask usage and managed to retain a semblance of normal life
OK, all right, let’s get this out of the way. Do not go out now and try to buy medical face masks in Canada.
These would be much more useful on a health worker’s face than on yours, which should be safe at home gawping at Tiger King or Animal Crossing.
Seriously. Stay home. Don’t buy surgical masks or N95 respirators. They are not, currently, a substitute for social distancing in Canada; they are, currently, in short supply; and Canada’s frontline Covid-19 workers need them urgently and are burning through them at a ferocious rate.
With that acknowledgement, it is time for the next: Canada’s current official position on face masks, that they serve no purpose for the asymptomatic general public, that they do not work for the asymptomatic general public, but at the same time are essential to protect health workers, is utterly preposterous.
It flies in the face of scientific evidence. It is illogical and confusing and takes Canadians for fools. And if attempts are made to maintain this farcical pretence in the long term, Canada may be denied a tool that has not only helped East Asian nations withstand the siege of the coronavirus well compared to elsewhere, but to continue with some forms of normal life and economic activity.
Telling Canadians not to buy masks is sound advice. Telling Canadians that masks do not work is poppycock.