New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo today presented his philosophy for engaging the coronavirus crisis. Using an array of charts for Texas, Arizona, Florida, and California under the slogan: "We have to bend the curve, otherwise infection rates increase and spikes continue," the Governor extrapolated a prediction regarding the future course of the virus, saying: "So you look at those numbers in those states, those upticks are just going to continue," asserting: "That mountain, that didn't just plateau because God said 'Plateau'; it plateaued because we did masks and social distancing, and close-down, and all those activities, and testing, and tracing, and that's how we bent the curve."
Cuomo went on to charge that "denial" is causing the virus' continued spread, saying "you have to be aware of it, you have to admit it, and you then have to take action, and you have to be committed to it, and it starts at the top with leadership," building a case from a Trump quote arguably taken out of context that the President's coronavirus strategy is to deny the virus by not testing for it, eliminating the problem.
Cuomo then said, "Mr. President, don't be a co-conspirator of COVID." Waving a surgical mask, the New York Governor said, "This is common sense... Just wear the mask."
In an article that appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine entitled "Universal Masking in Hospitals in the Covid-19 Era", authors Michael Klompas, M.D., M.P.H., Charles A. Morris, M.D., M.P.H., Julia Sinclair, M.B.A., Madelyn Pearson, D.N.P., R.N., and Erica S. Shenoy, M.D., Ph.D. write: "We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection. Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes (and some say more than 10 minutes or even 30 minutes). The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal. In many cases, the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic."
Minnesota Senate Health and Human Services Committee Vice-Chairman State Senator Dr. Scott Jensen quoted a March 1st Department of Health memorandum that identified effective measures to dampen, delay, and decrease the virus' peak, including: Covering one's mouth, not going out if one has cough or fever, avoiding touching one's face, eyes, or mouth, covering the mouth if one coughs, washing hands frequently, minimizing outings, and physical distancing.
Ineffective measures included wearing masks and taking antibiotics.
U.S. Surgeon General VADM Jerome M. Adams has issued seemingly contradictory messages regarding mask efficacy in general, in February tweeting "Seriously people - STOP BUYING MASKS!
"They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!" (emphasis the U.S. Surgeon General's)
After more recently tweeting "Don't forget your face covering if you plan to be out in public this Memorial Day Weekend" the Surgeon General faced requests for clarification, prompting him the next day to tweet "On masks, I’ve always advised on best current science - never politics. Some feel it’s political/ infringes on their rights when told they MUST wear one.
"I’m ASKING based on current CDC recommendations, that you CHOOSE to wear a mask in public, to protect the vulnerable."
However, the Surgeon General did not issue a retraction as unequivocal as his earlier declaration of mask ineffectiveness to prevent contagion.
In Israel, there is currently a 500 shekel fine for being caught in public without a mask, with police patrolling various venues to force compliance.
At 2:17 Governor Cuomo is shown participating in a press conference where New York City Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker says: "Masks should be for the health-care workers. The public should not be buying masks":