When the current COVID-19 crisis has past, and historians look at government responses, the CDC messaging on masks may be the single biggest mistake the US made. Bigger than the testing fuckup, bigger than the complete lack of contact tracing. It is _still_ bizarre to me that a government agency staffed with presumably some of the most qualified, well-educated public officials decided to set their public credability on fire over the mask shortage.

If they had instead said: "Yes there is a mask shortage, please reserve N95 masks for healthcare workers, and use cloth or surgical masks for personal everyday errands" then there would have been no controversy, and arguably a much better outcome. Why did the CDC decide that instead of cooperating with the public, to do this obvious lie and manipulate us? It's something I would expect to see from an authoritarian failed state, not a western democracy. And now, after it's been exposed as nonsense, we have this baffling about-face, long after the CDC's credibility has been shredded, and for what? Nothing. Worse than nothing, because now no one trusts the CDC.

If you view this through a lens of reducing legal liability for the tire fire of safety preparation that was hospital supplies, it makes more sense. But that's all the more reason to not trust the CDC - the only way this wasn't a bone-headed maneuver was if they cared more about corporate liability than personal safety.

To be fair, it wasn't just the CDC, but also the WHO, Canadian, UK, European officials, all in the same vote.