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SimonF

0 karmaJoined Apr 2020

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3. There does seem to be a cost-effectiveness analysis and so we don't know whether this is worth anyone's time.

Well, when comparing a typical price for these masks (was ~50$, nowadays they are mostly sold out) times number of people with the damage to the economy caused by lockdowns and social distancing, you don't relly need a calculator, do you? :)

I've also pointed out that they can be mass-produced, so distributing mask to everyone, at least in industrialized countries, should obviously be cost-effective.

1. See Greg Lewis interview on the 80k podcast (https://80000hours.org/podcast/episodes/greg-lewis-covid-19-global-catastrophic-biological-risks/) especially the last 25 mins on EA community mistakes on the c19 response (he mentions that facemasks in particular can actually be net negative - I realize this is slightly different, yet still applies to this post).

I would be really curious to know how a mask like this could have a negative effect. Risk compensation should obviously considered, but otherwise I'm coming up blank.