THREAD
1/ On #CNNTownHall today- @drsanjaygupta and @AC360 asked Dr. Fauci & @RWalensky @CDCDirector about #BetterMasks

They pressed them on key points- should people get access to #BetterMasks?

Will the federal government help get these masks to people (N95s as an example)?

2/ Fauci responded saying "the most important thing is that you wear a mask"

Yes- we agree

A mask > no mask

But a high filtration mask > "a mask"

That last point is not really a "debate"- N95 masks are #bettermasks than cloth & surgical masks bc of fit & regulation on quality

3/ He then says we must "get everybody to wear a mask"

Unfortunately, that's not going to happen

Thankfully it doesn't need to!

Need enough people wearing masks in high risk transmission scenarios to stop cluster based spread

In these scenarios, high filtration masks key

4/ @CDCDirector also asked about this and her counterpoint was that N95s are "hard to tolerate" as she has worn one in clinical setting (as have I)

Thankfully, these don't need to be worn *at all times* -need these during indoor crowding (transit, grocery stores, frontline jobs)

5/ Also- for people that want the best protection they can get- they should be able to decide what level of breathability is tolerable for the activities they need to do

A bigger problem is getting the right fit- but even this isn't an unsolvable problem (see @FixTheMask & more)

6/ From a political standpoint, I can understand why it can be tough to acknowledge that #bettermasks will be a key part of this response, because once that is agreed upon, the government is partially responsible for getting these out to people & this can be complicated

7/ Alongside vaccine rollouts, operationalizing rapid tests, navigating stay-at-home orders & public restrictions, amplifying contact tracing programs, building better isolation options etc- #bettermasks is one more thing to do & I respect that is hard

#covid19

8/ But remember- #bettermasks are key as the virus continues to evolve w/ already more transmissible variants circulating; they are meant to be one more tool in our response, not a silver bullet by any means.

I have immense respect for CDC & their work. More to come. #covid19

9/ @RanuDhillon @sri_srikrishna and I have been pushing for these since last spring. It took quite a while for this idea to even make it into the public dialogue at all. So it isn't surprising that it is met w/ some resistance now

@cnn video is here: https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2021/01/28/mask-guidance-n95-fauci-walensky-cnn-coronavirus-town-hall-sot-vpx.cnn

cc @carlzimmer @j_g_allen @zeynep @WeiPoints @linseymarr @jeremyphoward @FenitN @ruairiak @skarlamangla @taraparkerpope @AliNouriPhD @DrEricDing @ashishkjha