Comeback of the day

Over in the US airlines have been given the right to decide for themselves whether passengers will be required to wear a mask to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

It comes after a federal judge in Florida struck down Joe Biden’s national mask mandate, which covered planes, airports and other public transportation.

Which is presumably the background to this tweet by author, statistician and much else besides Nate Silver, which we mention because the response wins our takedown of the day.

‘Tweet of the day?’ said Callie Thompson – @callie_mt – who went viral after highlighting it on Twitter.

Ooof.

Also… this is SO much more than just planes – busses, trains, subways. Some people commute 3 hours a day via public transportation. Disproportionally affecting those who cannot afford/do not have access to private transport.

— Sarah Gray (@sarahgraymd) April 19, 2022

Never mind JFK spent less than an hour a decade riding in a convertible in Dallas.

— micheleweldon (@micheleweldon) April 19, 2022

1) I know I’m not average. My job has me travel a lot. And has for many years. I spent at least 60 hours on board full airliners in 2021. And will likely top that for 2022. I will wear my mask. Before covid I would catch colds, sniffles often. It ended with masking.

— Ensign Joseph🖖🕉☮️❤️ (@joe_obrien5858) April 20, 2022

Back to Nate Silver.

The average American eats at a restaurant about 250 times per year, whereas they travel by airplane about 2.5 times per year. Dining out and general nightly social activity is a much, much, much bigger contributor to COVID spread than air travel.

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) April 19, 2022

The average American spends several hundred hours per year in school. Airline travel is a very small proportion of people's overall COVID exposure. https://t.co/OrQH6vW5NO

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) April 20, 2022

Let's at least try to understand the difference between an average vs. a mode or a median if we're going to attempt dunks about statistical claims? Is that really too much to ask?

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) April 20, 2022

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Source Twitter @callie_mt