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Unfortunately, by the time we could actually do all the experiments to find the best ways to handle the pandemic, it would already be over. Everybody is just doing the best they can with the knowledge they have.

With any luck, we will learn some things that will help us deal better with the next pandemic.

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We have learned, over ages, that quarantining the sick and isolating the vulnerable works about as well as you can expect. Yet we decided to do something different this time.

I believe it was the discovery that people were contagious before they showed symptoms, plus the specter of overwhelmed hospitals in other countries, which led to the restrictions that we are seeing.

> Everybody is just doing the best they can with the knowledge they have.

Then say that. Saying that masks work is a lie. The truth is nobody really knows.

Public health officials are treating the people they work for like children. Public health officials are not our parents. We are their customers and they serve us. Big difference.

I don’t know exactly what you mean by “masks work”, but my best guess based on the evidence available is that masks provide some protection.

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