[Goose]

I saw Dr. Vin Gupta last week saying masks are no longer enough when there is exponential spread. They are better than nothing, but the curve isn't gonna be flattened by them when we have so much infection in the population.

I can't imagine why anyone would ever think that by themselves masks were "enough". We don't have any evidence that was the case. The study BC posted that attempted to measure the impact of a mask mandate in Canada came up with a 25% reduction in Reff. That is a help. but it doesn't drive it to zero. If the value without masks is 1.5, the value with masks would be 1.275 (if the study is correct), still > 1. FWIW, we always have "exponential" spread. If the exponent (Reff) is < 1, the result is a net decrease over time, but it is still exponential.

[Goose]

I saw Dr. Vin Gupta last week saying masks are no longer enough when there is exponential spread. They are better than nothing, but the curve isn't gonna be flattened by them when we have so much infection in the population.

I can't imagine why anyone would ever think that by themselves masks were "enough". We don't have any evidence that was the case. The study BC posted that attempted to measure the impact of a mask mandate in Canada came up with a 25% reduction in Reff. That is a help. but it doesn't drive it to zero. If the value without masks is 1.5, the value with masks would be 1.275 (if the study is correct), still > 1. FWIW, we always have "exponential" spread. If the exponent (Reff) is < 1, the result is a net decrease over time, but it is still exponential.