Question

Masks were ineffective, school closures harmed children, and past outbreaks showed us what not to do in the future.

Comments

Studies show Research that surgical masks can block respiratory droplets and aerosols, which are primary modes of virus transmission. (published in Nature Medicine (2020)There is also real world evidence: Countries with widespread mask usage (e.g., South Korea and Japan) experienced lower COVID-19 transmission rates early in the pandemic.

Answer 1

When doing research and trying to find similar claims, almost every article on this topic did not have a credible source or a source at all. They were all opinionated and expressed concerns over mask usage as opposed to stating factual claims and evidence that masks are proven to cause harm -- just as in the original Blueksy post. 

In a CDC study, a full experiment was conducted that led to the conclusion that mask usage can be beneficial in the circumstances of a pandemic, claiming that "masks were ineffective" is untrue. However, the second part of this claim argues that school closures harmed children, and this claim does have valid evidence to back it. In a study done by the National Library of Medicine, it was found that the impact of school closures and lockdowns has negatively affected children from various backgrounds and incomes and a decrease in life satisfaction and immunity. 

Overall, the original claim is not a fact and does not use a credible source to prove that its claim is true. Yet, there is some partial truth to this claim, which emphasizes the importance of fact-checking and doing proper research when making claims such as this, especially where there is likely already evidence and studies done. 

Answer 2

As declarative as this claim is, not all of it is false. There are studies that have been done proving the effectiveness of masks. Also there is the simple fact that maybe they were ineffective in some instances, especially because not everyone has access to the highest quality masks, however, it was the best defense we had at the time. The claim about school closures is true to some extent. Reports have been made regarding how students suffered mentally because of pandemic related school closures. Similarly, some parties were more effected than others which makes this statement accurate in some sense. Ultimately if another outbreak were to happen then we would know what not to do again, but that's true about a lot of circumstances. And at the end of the day, this looks to be one person's opinion, not a widely reported claim so we need to be mindful of that. 

Comments

Hey! This is an excellent fact check, specifically how you related other credible articles to back up your claims proved how researched you were on the topic. I would expand on your point that it was the best defense we had at the time and note how unprecedented the pandemic wasm especially for its length, and that at the time there were trusted officials and scientists in charge making these decisions. While looking back it's easy to note how some of them weren't as effective (school closures for example, not masks) it is better to have been over cautious than inflict more covid related deaths on young people. I also liked how you noted this is one person's opinion, and I would add to that saying that everyone had different experiences during covid that shaped their perspectives, which is important to note when reading what is presented as facts.

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This is a very thoughtful perspective it is very important to acknowledge that such claims can be severally harmful to many public health issues like during the pandemic but overall, this fact check was very well thought out.

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You make a good point that not all parts of the claim are false, yet, there is still some partial truth to this claim. Studies do show masks can be effective, even if they aren’t perfect in every situation—especially since not everyone has access to the best masks. But they were the best option we had at the time. As for school closures, it’s true that they negatively impacted kids’ mental health and well-being, and some groups were hit harder than others. That said, this claim seems more like one person’s opinion than a solid, well-supported fact. It’s important to stick to credible sources when talking about topics like this and to do proper research when making claims that are in regards to health, especially considering there are plenty of scientific research studies out there.