Sanjay Gupta discredits himself and the CDC

On MSNBC a while ago (I was just getting out of bed), Dr. Sanjay Gupta urged that mask wearing in public be required by law in all states

He was visibly angry at people refusing to social distance and refusing to wear masks in public.

He cited studies that credit widespread mask wearing with preventing a high percentage of new infections, insisting they make a real difference and save lives.

But then he blew it all when, all on his own, he denounced the CDC for telling everybody to skip the extra washing of surfaces and equipment because the virus isn't spread that way and all that washing does no good.

He was angry at the CDC and said telling people to skip all that extra work and expense because it was unnecessary sent entirely the wrong message.

He said the CDC should have said nothing about its futility and continued to tell people it was needed because them saying that and people actually doing all that washing gets people to take the virus seriously.

Virus deniers have been claiming all along that the CDC is lying to us all about the gravity of this bug.

The deniers accuse the CDC of inflating the numbers of expected new infections and fatalities, actual infections and fatalities, the severity of the disease, and the useful impact of measures designed to delay or limit infections such as disinfecting and washing workplaces, wearing masks, social distancing, and keeping people home.

Sanjay Gupta publicly calling for the CDC to lie about disinfecting and washing workplaces lends credibility to the deniers' claims and erodes the credibility of himself, of public health professionals, and even of the CDC.

Update.

GOP lawmaker rages.

“All these precautions, all the masks, all the spacing at the desks, all of these plexiglass partitions for perception so we can all feel safe. But we all really know it really doesn’t help. Who are you kidding? Honestly, who are you kidding?”

It's certainly false that we all know that since if we all know it then we all believe it, and we don't.

And I'm pretty sure she doesn't know it, either, since if you know that p then it's true that p, and it's certainly not true none of that stuff helps at all.

Heck, I'm pretty sure she doesn't even believe it.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure she's just lying.

But it's to this kind of lie that Sanjay is lending credibility.