Not enough evidence except the same organisation that was involved in the "eradication of smallpox, the near-eradication of polio, and the development of an Ebola vaccine" is now suddenly wrong

it just doesn't add up man

I'm not discounting the accomplishments of scientists around the world, but on these topics the science changes rapidly. Even on those topics you mentioned its not like there has always been a 100% consensus of the science. Doesn't mean that the WHO is completely wrong, in fact they are correct about some of the benefits of the medical grade equipment. But the fact of the matter is that there is a lot of conflicting information surrounding regular cloth masks that isn't settled by the WHO or anyone really around the world

I believe that the majority of people at the WHO wants to do the best that they can for the world, therefore they create recommendations based on what is currently available, even if it is not complete science. I know scientist who are a part of the WHO and they are good people, but when it comes to advice that they give, it is only based on the best available information they can gather, not only on fully flushed out scientific evidence

I doesn't even seem the WHO is suggesting cloth masks atm

well like even if they know a little, it is still the best we have

as these people are some of the best in the world you can't ignore what they do and what advice they give over your own you know?

No I think it would be wrong to completely ignore their advice, but it's also important to consider the evidence that they have before them. When considering my personal beliefs, I may have more information than the typical person regarding these topics since I work in the bioinformatics field, but I tend to rely on organizations when they have presented sufficient evidence

well some people don't consider it at all and think coronavirus is a massive hoax it annoys me

and why trump wants to terminate funding to a internationally beneficial organisation is beyond me i just don't get it

For instance Dr. Fauci is a very great scientist. In fact I know people that have worked with him. But unfortunately you have many people politicizing his information and now he has become a bit of an icon as opposed to someone exclusively investigating the evidence.

The same thing is happening to many worldwide organizations

politics influences a lot of their information

i just don't see how wearing a mask is something political

COVID-19 obviously isn't a hoax, but many people begin to believe it because of the holes that can be poked in a lot of information surrounding it. Just like any serious issue in the world, politics makes its way into the information, clouding what really can be counted as fact

thats the point, it shouldnt be political, but it has become that way

people take little kernels of truth and run with it, in either direction

but how is wearing a mask political in this way? i probably don't disagree about the politic things now that you say it because i heard some news on it

but like how if you get what i mean

its become political because people have polarized the situation depending on your viewpoint. If you want people to have liberties with mask wearing you are seen as contributing to covid spread, but if you want to encourage people to wear masks you seen as impeding on peoples freedom. The reality of the situation should be somewhere in between, but like anything in this political environment it is seen as a black and white scenario

i don't get it

how is preventing the spread of a virus impeding on people's freedoms

@The Guy Behind You yeah, but I trust the medical, peer reviewed papers that say a cloth mask is 80% effective

some people man i just will never ever get

it's not even that hard of a thing to do... wearing a mask in a enclosed area

people see it as all or nothing and has therefore been separated by politcal view. If you take me as an example, i believe that masks can be effective in the right scenarios, but it should not impede on the civil liberties of the public. Many would see this in the black and white perspective of me being for people not wearing masks, therefore I deny science and want people to die

its the classic slippery slope argument

yeah i mean if you wear a mask in the middle of a field... why are you doing this

but people know when it should be worn it just flies past them

one too many karens crying because they have to put on a mask to get into walmart

like get real

thats where the political polarization comes in. People are seen as either believing fully in masks or completely denying it, when in reality it is in between those view points

yeah it seems to be a massive problem in the US where everything has one side

nothing can be middle ground

you either believe this or believe this... do or don't

and I think where many people have an issue is with the science not coming to a consensus on the general mask wearing of the public

its proven to help in certain circumstances, but also proven to be completely ineffective in others

yeah that is exactly what the WHO says i am sure

if i know what circumstances you are on about

well on the website it does

I mean look at the whole lockdown debate, the WHO now comes out against it but there are still those that believe that lockdowns are the only way to stop the spread