Sloppy science during Covid

Year: 2020

During the Covid pandemic, governments felt the need to take immediate action. Such as making masks mandatory in public areas. It certainly seemed plausible that this could reduce the spread of the virus. But was this supported by sufficient scientific evidence?

No. Not really. Well sort of. Existing scientific studies on face masks were mostly from laboratories or controlled healthcare environments with professionals using the mask in a correct way. To support the idea that masks should be mandatory in public, researchers were rushed (and funded!) to quickly study the effectiveness of face masks for Covid. Many studies were done very quickly. And sloppily. But as the old saying goes: “Haste makes waste!” Many of the studies were flawed and had to be retracted or corrected. The result was that the implementation of various mask policies, based on non-existing science and uncertainty. These policies were said to be proven effective by science to increase public commitment.

Scientific studies take time to be designed and conducted, and it often takes years and multiple trials before arriving at some level of certainty. Scientific knowledge is after all the result of a trial-and-error process. Governments, however, demand immediate answers on which they can base decisions. There is no time for the slow progress of rigorous science. No time for the usual self-correcting nature of scientific progress.

The failure here is twofold. Many of the Covid studies were flawed, but the larger failure was policy-makers’ rush to quickly get scientific evidence. This led to a lot of sloppy science that eroded trust in the scientific community. The demands on researchers were unreasonable. The failure was in the unrealistic expectations of what science could deliver in so little time.

Let’s be clear, mandatory masks in public was probably a good idea, but it was not scientifically proven to be effective. More recent analyses have concluded that the correct use of surgical masks when used by everyone does indeed reduce the spread Covid.

Source: article.