[burger]

The message from very early should have been that masks help to prevent transmission and everyone should wear cloth masks because we don't have enough surgical masks for healthcare workers.

I think there was misplaced concern that the public buying masks would impact availability to HCWs. Availability still isn't good because of limited supply, but I think its clear now that the public is fine with cloth masks, if they're fine with masks at all.

The other concern was that people would use masks as an alternative for sheltering in place or that people would let their guard down out of a false sense of security with masks.  But I agree with Lex that mixed messages were a problem, and I'm as guilty as anyone; I started out fairly skeptical about mask use but have come around as data has accumulated that they make a difference.
BC

The CDC basically assumed the American public was rash and stupid when it came to masks. 

Along with the 2 reasons above that were used, the 3rd was, "people may be more likely to get infected because they'll touch their faces more with masks on".  Give us some credit.  Teach us how to wear masks properly (I think this is still needed given the non negligible amount of people wearing their masks askew). Use Disney characters if need be. =)

Mask-wearing lessons or PSAs would be great.  But I think we could do a lot better than that if we had a federal government that gave a crap about public health.  How about free masks for everyone?  We're 6+ months into this--shouldn't getting surgical masks or the like into the hands of every single American have been a goal of the feds from the start?  I see people wearing single-layer bandanas or thin neck gaiters all the time.  Those are better than nothing, but not much. 

Models have shown that are two ways to make masks more effective in terms of reducing R: increase mask usage, or make the masks more effective.  We could do both of those at the same time by mobilizing a big mask making and distribution system.  This should've been happening from day 1.  It's actually not too late to start this now because we're going to be living with this virus for at least another year, I bet.

[burger]

The message from very early should have been that masks help to prevent transmission and everyone should wear cloth masks because we don't have enough surgical masks for healthcare workers.

I think there was misplaced concern that the public buying masks would impact availability to HCWs. Availability still isn't good because of limited supply, but I think its clear now that the public is fine with cloth masks, if they're fine with masks at all.

The other concern was that people would use masks as an alternative for sheltering in place or that people would let their guard down out of a false sense of security with masks.  But I agree with Lex that mixed messages were a problem, and I'm as guilty as anyone; I started out fairly skeptical about mask use but have come around as data has accumulated that they make a difference.
BC

The CDC basically assumed the American public was rash and stupid when it came to masks. 

Along with the 2 reasons above that were used, the 3rd was, "people may be more likely to get infected because they'll touch their faces more with masks on".  Give us some credit.  Teach us how to wear masks properly (I think this is still needed given the non negligible amount of people wearing their masks askew). Use Disney characters if need be. =)

Mask-wearing lessons or PSAs would be great.  But I think we could do a lot better than that if we had a federal government that gave a crap about public health.  How about free masks for everyone?  We're 6+ months into this--shouldn't getting surgical masks or the like into the hands of every single American have been a goal of the feds from the start?  I see people wearing single-layer bandanas or thin neck gaiters all the time.  Those are better than nothing, but not much. 

Models have shown that are two ways to make masks more effective in terms of reducing R: increase mask usage, or make the masks more effective.  We could do both of those at the same time by mobilizing a big mask making and distribution system.  This should've been happening from day 1.  It's actually not too late to start this now because we're going to be living with this virus for at least another year, I bet.