Tim Requarth writes:

Remember March of 2020, before masks? Back then, as we became aware that the coronavirus was circulating around the country at an alarming clip, packed up our offices, and pulled our kids out of in-person school, the nation’s top experts urged us not to bother covering our nose and mouths.

Among the complex reasons for the hesitation was a simple one: distrust of the public. “I worry that if people put on masks, then they’ll think, OK, I’m protected, and they won’t wash their hands as vigorously or be careful not to touch their faces,” one expert told Slate’s What Next very early in the pandemic. The White House Coronavirus Task Force, the U.K. scientific council SAGE, and the World Health Organization cited similar concerns at the time, too. Masks would only provide a false sense of reassurance, reversing any public health gains they might offer. Of course, they were wrong—by summer 2020, we were wearing masks and also adhering to other safety measures.

Huge numbers of people put time, effort, and money into masking up—and in doing so, saved lives. But these efforts didn’t stop public health authorities from raising similar concerns about public behavior again and again. When vaccines first arrived on the scene in late 2020, public health officials and doctors urged us to get the shot as soon as we were eligible, and then, worrying about a “false sense of security,” preemptively warned us about returning to normal activities—to the point where “just because you’re vaccinated doesn’t mean you can … ” became a popular joke setup. Now, with the Biden administration pledging a billion-dollar investment into rapid at-home testing, some worry that the proliferation of the swabs, which can present false negatives or be misused, will cause an increase in cases—that people will feel too free to use them as an excuse to drop all precautions.

Throughout the pandemic, each time a public safety measure arrives on the scene, some experts fret that the masses will simply use the newfound sense of security as license to behave recklessly, canceling out or even reversing any benefits of the safety measure. The concept many medical experts can’t seem to loosen their grip on is known as “risk compensation.” [Continue reading…]