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posted by martyb on Sunday May 17 2020, @04:27AM   Printer-friendly
from the I'm-shocked,-shocked-I-say dept.

U.S. Government Proposed Manipulating CDC Guidelines to Avoid Mask Shortages: Whistleblower:

The U.S. government proposed manipulating information about whether N95 masks worked to fight the spread of coronavirus in the general public, according to Dr. Richard Bright, a whistleblower who testified publicly for the first time on Thursday. The deception was an effort to avoid shortages and keep masks available for U.S. health care workers, but likely had a ripple effect throughout the country, leaving many people to believe that all masks are useless or even harmful during a pandemic. Bright's testimony is the first confirmation from a high-ranking official that the U.S. government actively sought to distribute incorrect information about N95 masks during the covid-19 pandemic.

Dr. Bright told the House Subcommittee on Health on Thursday about his attempts to warn others in the Department of Health and Human Services about the pending shortage of masks in January and early February, just as the novel coronavirus was spreading outside of China. Bright said that officials at the meeting simply said they would change the recommendations put out by the CDC to discourage the general public from buying masks.

"I indicated we know there will be a critical shortage of these supplies. We need to do something to ramp up production," Dr. Bright, the former top vaccine specialist at HHS, said of a meeting with HHS officials on February 7.

"They indicated if we notice there is a shortage, that we will simply change the CDC guidelines to better inform people who should not be wearing those masks, so that would save those masks for our health care workers," Dr. Bright testified.

"My response was, 'I can not believe you can sit and say that with a straight face'," Bright said. "That was absurd."

[...] Dr. Bright's entire 6-hour testimony is available on YouTube, and it's quite damning.


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  • (Score: 2, Troll) by Username on Sunday May 17 2020, @12:41PM (8 children)

    by Username (4557) on Sunday May 17 2020, @12:41PM (#995325)

    Fact is, there is no reason for Joe Sixpack to wear an N95 mask.

    That's not a fact. That's propaganda. The actual fact is that masks prevent much of the virus's spread through breathing and coughing and that the actual risk assessment research looking into it was reviewed by the WHO, the CDC and pretty much every other medical body in the world and they all concluded masks are necessary for the general population, not just the medical personal.

    Well, that's propaganda as well. Social distancing is what stops the spread of the virus. N95 masks do not filter when you exhale, only when you inhale. They are a negative pressure respirator designed to stop workers from breathing in too much sand. The virus will shoot out the sides of it along with your spit. They are not medical masks either, they are industrial masks. Hospitals use a medical grade mask. A single virus can infect you. That spit from the sides of the mask just needs to land on an eye, a fork, wherever. Doesn't even have to be spit, can be the fluid from eyelashes splashing on people, or urine splashes from the restroom. They even found covid19 in semen samples. So it's not very helpful to just to wear a mask without the rest of the PPE, then decontaminate before eating, bathing, urinating etc. Nobody is going to do all that. So the most effective approach is social distancing. Though that's not going to be a good solution either since, according to the WHO, this will come back every year like the flu. My guess, is eventually they will suggest the best thing is to let people get the virus and let them fight it off to build up an immunity instead of being bubble boys.

    So, I have to agree that there is no reason for Joe to think wearing a mask will protect him from covid19, or stop him from giving it to others. But, I do agree Joe should wear a mask if he wants. It doesn't hurt me that Joe does Joe things. I view people wearing mask to prevent covid19 the same way I view people with emotional support animals.

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  • (Score: 2) by gtomorrow on Sunday May 17 2020, @12:52PM

    by gtomorrow (2230) on Sunday May 17 2020, @12:52PM (#995330)

    Please see Comment 995320. [soylentnews.org]

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday May 17 2020, @01:18PM (5 children)

    They do in fact catch any viral load being carried by spit particles, which is the primary worry. Shooting out the sides (and having to hit your face to do so) though is still a whole lot better than going directly where you've got your cock-socket pointed.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 2) by Username on Sunday May 17 2020, @03:53PM (3 children)

      by Username (4557) on Sunday May 17 2020, @03:53PM (#995387)

      That's kind of like saying my girlfriend is just a little pregnant since most of my sperm wasn't inside of her.

      • (Score: 1) by zion-fueled on Sunday May 17 2020, @06:16PM (1 child)

        by zion-fueled (8646) on Sunday May 17 2020, @06:16PM (#995423)

        Isn't she more likely to get pregnant with a full load vs some sperm that ended up on her finger? Millions of sperm and only 1 gets in the egg.

        • (Score: 2) by Username on Sunday May 17 2020, @11:44PM

          by Username (4557) on Sunday May 17 2020, @11:44PM (#995510)

          True, but sperm aren't self replicating. Most of your viruses not getting out doesn't help when only one will turn someone covid19 positive. Why would an epidemiologist wear so much gear against covi19 while Joe will get equal protection by just wearing a single mask.

      • (Score: 3, Touché) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday May 17 2020, @08:41PM

        No, it's not. Not even kind of. You really, really need to read up on viral contagion. Badly.

        --
        My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 3, Funny) by krishnoid on Monday May 18 2020, @02:40AM

      by krishnoid (1156) on Monday May 18 2020, @02:40AM (#995587)

      I learned a new euphemism today! +1 Informative :-)

  • (Score: 3, Touché) by krishnoid on Monday May 18 2020, @02:50AM

    by krishnoid (1156) on Monday May 18 2020, @02:50AM (#995592)

    My guess, is eventually they will suggest the best thing is to let people get the virus and let them fight it off to build up an immunity instead of being bubble boys.

    Funny enough, being stuck in one spot has meant disinterring a lot of ancient crud doing a lot of deferred cleaning, and tooling around on the ground in the back yard. I don't think I've ever been more continuously exposed to the local microflora/fauna than during this period.