[nradov]

Why didn't you wear a mask in public before March? Influenza is also a potentially fatal respiratory disease that is frequently spread by asymptomatic carriers.

https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/cbn/2005/cbnreport_1...

We have a vaccine for it, but some years the vaccine is as little as 19% effective. In particular the vaccine doesn't work very well on immunocompromised people.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/vaccines-work/past-seasons-estimates...

You might have already killed elderly and obese and otherwise-compromised relatives and neighbors by your failure to wear a mask in previous years! COVID-19 fatality rate is around 6 – 8 times worse than influenza, but that's just a difference in degree. Personally I do wear a mask in circumstances where it actually makes a difference to slow down the COVID-19 pandemic, and encourage others to do likewise. But spare us the moralizing and appeals to emotion. That doesn't help, it just divides people.

[jessaustin]

The Surgeon General and the NIAID director both told me not to. They've since changed their minds, but I changed mine before they did. I'm kind of surprised they haven't resigned, to underscore the certainty of their new recommendations...