The Associated Press found that governments around the world used mass surveillance technologies and data during the COVID-19 pandemic for purposes unrelated to the pandemic, including stifling dissent and harassing marginalized communities.
The CDC took nearly two years to formally recognize distinctions between masks for mitigating COVID-19 spread, finally saying in January that cloth masks offer "the least" protection and N95 respirators, which meet strict federal standards, "the highest."
An underlying principle of public health is, or was, to provide the public with accurate information so that they can make good health choices for themselves and their community.