By now you've probably heard about misinformation pertaining to the COVID19 outbreak spread across the globe by the Chinese communist government and the World Health Organization, but would it concern you to know your own Federal government may have also played a role in misleading us?
The Center for Disease Control has offered contradicting information on the need for medical masks during the COVID19 pandemic.
Rep Tulsi Gabbard has a theory about why this may be true. Yesterday she said:
The real reason why officials were saying people shouldn't be wearing masks isn't because they're not protective, but because they are very protective. Therefore our healthcare workers need them, but there is a serious shortage of masks. It would have been better for them to tell the truth from the beginning and say, "Yes, masks would be good for everybody to wear, but there just aren't enough of them. So we need to make sure that our first priority is making sure our healthcare workers have access to masks and other protective equipment."
If Rep Gabbard is correct, how can we trust anything the CDC tells us during this crisis?
In case you're curious what spawned this statement, NPR reports:
At the moment, the CDC website says the only people who need to wear a face mask are those who are sick or are caring for someone who is sick and unable to wear a mask.
But in an interview with NPR on Monday, CDC Director Robert Redfield said that the agency is taking another look at the data around mask use by the general public.
"I can tell you that the data and this issue of whether it's going to contribute [to prevention] is being aggressively reviewed as we speak," Redfield told NPR.
And Tuesday, President Trump weighed in suggesting people may want to wear scarves. "I would say do it," he said, noting that masks are needed for health care workers. "You can use scarves, you can use something else," he said.
On Tuesday Dr. Deborah Birx, who serves as the White House's coronavirus response coordinator, said the task force is still discussing whether to change to the recommendation on masks.