Jesus Christ, Just Wear a Face Mask!

From Daring Fireball:

Jason Kottke, with a slew of new links on the apparent efficacy of wearing face masks in public:

And these are just from the last few days. Why WHY WHY!!!! are we still talking about this? There's no credible evidence that wearing a mask is harmful, so at worse it's harmless. If there's like a 1-in-10 chance that masks are somewhat helpful — and the growing amount of research suggests that both 1-in-10 and "somewhat helpful" are both understatements — isn't it worth the tiny bit of effort to wear one and help keep our neighbors safe from potential fucking death? Just in case?

Japan is a striking example. Effectively, universal face-mask wearing is the only thing Japan has done right to combat COVID-19, and it's seemingly been enough, despite being a nation of densely populated cities and widespread public transit usage. Is there a single country with widespread wearing of face masks where there's been a bad COVID-19 outbreak? One? If we can beat this mostly through wearing face masks, it should be celebrated. It's so easy.

And, if you're looking to simply sit back this weekend and read, maybe catch your breath, but without tuning out of our current affairs, you'll find no better reading and watching list than Kottke's assemblage. Much to learn, much to think about.

Ben and I had to make another run to IKEA yesterday to pick up a few more items for his wardrobe project, and while waiting in line in the (thankfully shaded) 107F heat, I was surprised at the number of people—besides ourselves—who were wearing masks. The ratio wasn't great (I'd estimate about 60-70%), but considering our recent trips to Target, where mask-wearers have definitely become the minority and social distancing is practically non-existent, I was still pretty impressed.