Is the confusion displayed by medical science the reason for a prolonged coronavirus epidemic?

Recently, the CDC published yet another correction on their website that read: "After media reports appeared that suggested a change in CDC’s view on transmissibility, it became clear that these edits were confusing. Therefore, we have once again edited the page to provide clarity.

The primary and most important mode of transmission for COVID-19 is through close contact from person-to-person. Based on data from lab studies on COVID-19 and what we know about similar respiratory diseases, it may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this isn’t thought to be the main way the virus spreads."

Keep in mind that this notice appears after more than three months of observation of this disease, spread among millions of people worldwide; continuous observation by the CDC and medical scientists around the world.

Disturbingly, even a most fundamental understanding about how the spread seemed to be a point of contention among scientists:  some medical scientists, for example, were emphatic, at one point, that masks were not necessary and that people in the general public should not concern themselves with trying to acquire them because medical staff needed them worse and, after all, in the normal context of daily life wearing a mask may not be much of a deterrent to the spread of the contagion.

In an article appearing in Brittan's Guardian: "Ministers are split over whether to change government advice on wearing face masks, with Matt Hancock, the health secretary, stressing that the evidence for them was weak despite Scotland’s decision to recommend cloth coverings in some public places."  (April 28, 2020)

And again, the Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Jerome Michael Adams, tweeted his concerns about the efficacy and economy of using face masks (February 29th, 2020): "Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS!" They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!"

And then, in an article appearing on CNBC's site (March 10, 2020):  "My parents are confused and worried, and I can't blame them. Every article they read and every TV segment they watch about the novel coronavirus outbreak is dominated by pictures of people in masks. Hundreds of people at a time, all in masks. But then the surgeon general says to stop buying masks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says healthy people shouldn't wear masks, and even former President Barack Obama says to leave the masks to the health care professionals."

And there are, in fact, numerous articles from this above time period that suggest that masks should be an optional and lower priority choice when considering the spread of the coronavirus, despite all the the tangible and historical evidence to the contrary from the pandemics in the East, “There’s plenty of evidence to indicate that the wearing of face masks is a major help in reducing person-to-person viral transfer,” King said. “This is why it has become so much a part of the culture in South Asia.” (From a May 3rd, 2020 article in the Guardian)

Masks are now, of course, mandatory nearly everywhere.  Apparently, the fog has cleared and most scientists seem to agree with this.

The mask conundrum was but one. There has been considerable confusion over something as simple as social distancing and its relationship to the spread of the virus, with some scientists recommending a distance of six feet, while others suggesting distances of up to twenty-one feet.  One woman scientist suggested that the virus can be transmitted over water via air bubbles and this put surfers at risk, which then prompted politicians around the world to ban surfing. This, of course, was later pooh-poohed by some doctors/health officials as pure nonsense. From an San Diego Union Tribune article published on March 31, 2020:  a UC San Diego atmospheric scientist, Kim Prather, who studies how viruses and bacteria are ejected from the ocean — pleaded with surfers on Monday to stay out of the water to minimize their chances of contracting the coronavirus. 

Meanwhile, Dr. Charles Gerba, Professor of Environmental Virology at the University of Arizona stated, in an article appearing in CBS8 on May 11th, 2020, that, "We don't have a lot of data on it right now," said Gerba.  Gerba believes the possibility of catching COVID-19 while swimming in the ocean is unlikely. "They tend to be more transmitted in aerosol, droplets, contaminated surfaces and not water," said Gerba.

Then there's all of the disquieting confusion in medical science about the very nature of this SARS-like covid virus itself, observed for years, by the way, via other SARS/covid epidemics in Asia, as well as the data provided to scientists around the world by Dr. Shi Zhengli, on the nature of the CoV-2 virus via her groundbreaking studies in China.  Everything from the origin of the virus to its level of contagiousness, to prevention, to biological makeup, to treatment, and ultimately a cure, has been treated in an atmosphere that appears to be complete confusion among those we rely on most for real answers. 

So much confusion, so little time.  Conflicted and confused, scientists are informing politicians who, in turn, are scared to death over losing their political careers because of a coronavirus misstep that could potentially kill thousands of their constituents -- almost like a Keystone Cop comedy, except it isn't funny this time.

So, despite all of this confusion within the scientific community -- the same community that informs politicians, frontline doctors and nurses, and the general public -- politicians have no other choice but to point to medical science as their go-to wellhead of information.   Being informed by "science", however, may not, at the end of the day, be a feather in one's political cap.  Science's confused understanding of even the basics would not, in any sane decision-making environment, qualify as credible input.   The confused and conflicted input by scientists has resulted, in some cases, in exacerbating the spread of this disease in some areas, extending lockdowns that have created other health risks to the individual and the community, and severely limiting global economic activity, halting supply chains and creating unemployment scenarios not seen since the Great Depression of 1933.

According to John Hopkins School of Medicine, the third leading cause of death in America is medicine itself. The medical science that informs the work of doctors and nurses, may be the single leading causative factor for the nation's third leading cause of death in this country.  

We've known this for a long time, and yet we're still not prepared to demand more accountability from medical (and related) science.  We might need to look at that more closely.