WHY ARE MOST ANGLOPHILES NOT WEARING MASKS?

The World Health Organisation said right up until June 4th 2020…

“If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask [near] a suspected 2019-nCoV infection”

• This contradicts a peer-reviewed paper in NCBI.


• Does not mention asymptomatic contagion


• Ignores airborne transmission

Why? Probably because the reality is that the governments who fund them simply didn't prepare with a large enough supply of masks.

• April 2nd WHO finally acknowledge presymptomatic contagion but not asymptomatic (though the latter is irrelevant for mask policy).

“pre-symptomatic transmission has been documented through contact tracing efforts and enhanced investigation of clusters of confirmed cases. This is supported by data suggesting that some people can test positive for COVID-19 from 1-3 days before they develop symptoms. Thus, it is possible that people infected with COVID-19 could transmit the virus before significant symptoms develop. ”

• April 6th WHO says nursing home staff should wear masks, albeit in indirect language...
  

Advice to decision makers on the use of masks for healthy people in community settings "Decisions makers should consider the following: Vulnerability of the person/population to develop severe disease or be at higher risk of death, e.g. people with comorbidities, such as cardiovascular disease or diabetes mellitus, and older people Setting in which the population lives in terms of population density, the ability to carry out physical distancing (e.g. on a crowded bus), and risk of rapid spread (e.g. closed settings, slums, camps/camp-like settings).”

• June 5th WHO finally advises the general public to wear masks but non-medical (reserving medical supplies for high risk scenarios)
  

Advice to decision makers on the use of masks for the general public Governments should encourage the general public to wear [non-medical] masks… The ideal combination of material for non-medical masks should include three layers as follows: 1) an innermost layer of a hydrophilic material (e.g. cotton or cotton blends); 2), an outermost layer made of hydrophobic material (e.g., polypropylene, polyester, or their blends) which may limit external contamination from penetration through to the wearer’s nose and mouth; 3) a middle hydrophobic layer of synthetic non-woven material such as polyproplylene or a cotton layer which may enhance filtration or retain droplets.

March 16th Vietnam makes masks mandatory outdoors. A month later: zero total deaths and zero daily cases. On April 23rd the lockdown ended.

March 18th Czech Republic makes masks mandatory on public transport, in supermarkets and pharmacies.

March 18th The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended healthcare staff use bandanas if there are no proper masks but again ignores the science of asymptomatic carriers.

March 22nd Venezuela makes masks mandatory on public transport and in public places.

March 25th Slovakia makes masks mandatory on public transport, in supermarkets and pharmacies. President Zuzana Caputova wore a red one that matched her dress during the swearing-in ceremony of the new government.

March 26th Lithuania advises masks be used in public places except when driving a motor vehicle.

March 29th Bosnia & Herzegovina makes masks mandatory or a cloth covering their mouth and nose while walking in the streets or outside their homes.

March 29th Slovenia makes masks and gloves mandatory in food shops, post offices and other indoor public spaces. Quarantining of municipalities. 400 Euro fines.

March 30th Ukraine citizens to wear masks in food shops, post offices and other indoor public spaces. Quarantining of municipalities. 400 Euro fines.

March 31st Top health expert on the USA coronavirus task force, says the recommendation of masks for all Americans is “under very active consideration”.

April 1st Los Angeles Mayor urges all citizens to wear home-made masks (to ensure surgical and n95 masks for the frontline). The city will even produce their own cloth ones to distribute.

April 3rd W.H.O. reconsider guidelines in light of a March 26th study from MIT. UPDATE 200418: No change to their stance was made except to acknowledge pre/asymptomatic transmission.

April 4th Australian Commonwealth Deputy Chief Medical Officer discourages mask use by the general public, but "actively looking" at advising otherwise . UPDATE 200420: No changes were made.

April 4th Colombia makes masks mandatory on public transport and public areas such as stores, outdoor marketplaces and banks.

April 4th United Arab Emirates makes masks mandatory at all times outside the home.

April 6th Cuba makes masks mandatory at all times outside the home.

April 6th Austria makes masks mandatory in public space. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz acknowledges wearing them would require a "big adjustment" because "masks are alien to our country".

April 7th Equador makes masks mandatory in public spaces.

April 7th Morocco makes masks mandatory. Anyone who fails to comply faces a prison sentence of up to three months and a fine of 1,300 dirhams (US$130).

April 7th Turkey makes masks mandatory when shopping or visiting crowded public places. The country has surpassed Iran in becoming the heaviest affected nation in the Middle East, and the government said it will deliver masks to every family free of charge.

April 8th El Salvador makes masks mandatory in public.

April 8th Chile makes masks mandatory on public transport.

April 8th Cameroon makes masks mandatory outside the home. A dozen more African countries followed suit soon after: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Zambia.

April 10th India orders all citizens to wear masks, punishable by up to six months in prison.

April 12th Israel makes masks mandatory outdoors.

April 14th Argentina makes masks mandatory on public transport and out in public.

April 15th New York State Governor says all citizens must wear masks where social distancing is not possible.

April 16th Poland makes masks mandatory or homemade piece of fabric such as a scarf. This applies to green areas such as parks and beaches as well as public places such as roads, squares, religious facilities, commercial facilities, and marketplaces.

April 18th Australia receives 58 million masks for healthcare staff but still not mandatory in nursing homes

April 20th Luxembourg makes masks mandatory in public places where it is not possible to keep enough distance between one person and the other, such as public transport and supermarkets.

April 21st Jamaica makes masks mandatory in public spaces imposed a series of new coronavirus restrictions such as a revised curfew.

April 21st Mathematical modeling supports general mask use, published in a peer-reviewed paper from Arizona State University.

April 22nd Germany makes masks mandatory starting Monday 27th April.

April 22nd Bahrain makes masks mandatory in public areas for citizens and residents as well as shop workers.

April 26th Qatar makes masks mandatory for government and private sector employees and clients, shoppers at food and catering stores and workers in the contracting sector.

May 3rd Hong Kong to distribute Masks to all citizens, washable and reusable 60 times.

May 3rd Honduras makes masks mandatory outside the home.

May 5th Uganda makes masks mandatory outside the home. Lockdown extended another 14 days. 98 cases of COVID-19 with 55 recoveries since the outbreak was announced on March 21.

May 5th Namibia makes masks mandatory in public. The country's nearly six-week lockdown the previous day.

May 6th South Africa makes masks mandatory in public and on public transport. Fines apply.

May 18th Kuwait & Qatar make masks mandatory with thousands of dollars in fines or prison for offenders.

June 5th WHO recommends masks in public, finally.