Dr. Leana Wen cleans up her comment that 'cloth masks are little more than facial decoration'

As Twitchy reported Monday, CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen said on air that she didn’t think that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio should cancel the New Year’s Eve festivities in Times Square. “We need to continue activities that are of high-value while adding precautions that reduce risk,” she tweeted.

Many pointed out another part of the interview she posted online — the part where she admitted that “cloth masks are little more than facial decoration.” We figured she’d be “clarifying” that, and she did:

My point isn’t that we don’t need masks, but rather that we should require masks that are most effective to prevent disease transmission. Everyone, including children, should be wearing at least a 3-ply surgical mask when indoors & around others of unknown vaccination status. https://t.co/RXe6efAwsg

— Leana Wen, M.D. (@DrLeanaWen) December 21, 2021

“We should require masks that are most effective to prevent disease transmission” — that doesn’t negate what she said about cloth masks at all.

So now you're claiming that the cloth masks worn by 99% of kids in daycare and K-12 settings – often the same unwashed mask for days/weeks straight – are useless, after close to two years of demanding that they be mandated?

Just keep moving those goalposts yet again, Dr. Wen.

— Mother Shark (@katiesherrick) December 21, 2021

And yet, we’ve had low spread in schools with facial decorations only. Is it possible kids don’t need masks at all, and we can start immediately working on getting them back to a normal life?

— Rich (@RMBunchaNumbers) December 21, 2021

There is nothing good about who you are or what you do.

— Jack Flack ULTRA 👉👌 (@bigbrothernow) December 21, 2021

Now it has to be a certain type of mask? This is a great example of why so many people don’t take you seriously. Come on, Doc.

— Michael Tamburello (@michael_james38) December 21, 2021

Pass.

— Roll Tide (@AlabamaFan) December 21, 2021

And yet you claimed the disease was "easy" to prevent by wearing a piece of cloth over our mouth and noses. https://t.co/p24AHAkmfs

— George Ou (@GeorgeOu) December 22, 2021

1/3 Even surgical masks do not prevent the transmission of communicable illnesses. They are not designed for that. Period. We have known this for decades in workplace safety – they are not respirators.

— The SafetyPro Podcast (@SafetyProPod) December 21, 2021

2/3 Surgical masks are not designed or certified
to prevent the inhalation of small airborne contaminants. These particles are not visible to the naked eye but may still be capable of causing infection. Surgical masks are not designed to seal tightly against the user’s face.

— The SafetyPro Podcast (@SafetyProPod) December 21, 2021

3/3 Their ability to filter small particles varies significantly based upon the type of material used to make the surgical mask, so they cannot be relied upon to protect workers against airborne infectious agents. Read for yourselves: https://t.co/t7icDehzun

— The SafetyPro Podcast (@SafetyProPod) December 21, 2021

Where have you spoken out about kids wearing these useless cloth masks for the last 18 months? Can you direct me to any studies comparing Covid transmission rates between schools with mask mandates and ones without?

— Moe Szylak (@Michael78442500) December 22, 2021

https://twitter.com/supremejohnson9/status/1473681750509428737

“My argument is everything I DIDN’T say, not what I said.”

Interesting approach given the topic and medium.

— Ocular Carpenter (@ocularcarpenter) December 22, 2021

You were right the first time

— Crypto Degen (@90iqdegen) December 22, 2021

Lena, are your kids wearing 3-ply surgical masks at daycare for 8 hours a day?

— Melanie Harris (@missmelharris) December 21, 2021

You cannot pull back from the statement. If they are merely facial decoration then our kids have been unnecessarily masked for 2 years. An item cannot be both protective and facial decor. This isn’t hard.

— Coco 🇺🇸 (@CoClarified) December 22, 2021

What relevance is vaccination status?

You're an MD you have to be smart enough to realize vaccinated people are spreading the virus too.. you aren't getting a worse "strain" covid from an unvaccinated person.. same covid..

You people are insufferable

— Ryan Sack (@RyanSackSports1) December 22, 2021

How does the vaccination status affect anything here? It doesn't mean anything in terms of whether you should wear a mask or not.

— brenthjk (@brenthjk) December 22, 2021

Why does vaccination status matter if they can still spread virus?

— Thomas Holmes (@TomHolmes13) December 21, 2021

You really need to go away.

— Jan Levinson Gould (@jelymu81) December 21, 2021

You are evil.

— Joe Vols (@THEjoevols) December 21, 2021

She actually wasn’t evil enough to last as the president of Planned Parenthood. We knew she was going to try to walk this back.

Related:

Dr. Leana Wen tells CNN that ‘cloth masks are little more than facial decoration’ https://t.co/0urNl4QR0L

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) December 21, 2021