Wear a freaking mask already

You are right about your last phrase. Anybody who still thinks that this is just a bad flu, indeed doesn't know anything about the pathophysiology of this disease (which hits the endothelial layer of blood vessels) and its multiple organ damage even in mild cases (as shown by the German study showing 78% of patients who survived the infection, showing heart damage including 67% of them being mild and moderate cases that did not require hositalization and did not have pre-existing heart conditions - I posted a link to this paper several times). Good luck finding a flu case that ends up in stroke like my brother who had one after an asymptomatic case of COVID-19. Be thankful to your wife that she is trying to get you to be cautious.

 

I think others in your community should be thankful those two were religious mask wearers. I said earlier in this thread that I was I bit skeptical about mask because the research I had done before going to Japan told me that mask were more effective at preventing the spreading of the disease rather than protecting the wearer. Those two people may have saved lives by wearing those mask, maybe even yours.

 

Wow! Finally I see someone here who is posting from the same standpoint I've been posting, and with the same type of information. Bravo! I wish there were more people who understood the issue like you do.

Adding my own contribution (I've posted details over and over, including links to 29 scientific papers):

Almost all masks when donned correctly decrease the relative risk of transmitting and catching this infection unless they are jokes and excuses like crochet masks.

In degree of efficacy, they go like this: bandanas, smallest filtration (2%, practically useless). Flimsy non-medical grade facemasks you find in grocery stores and pharmacies, very little protection. Cloth masks without a pocket to insert a filter, some protection depending on the material (better for example with the fabric used in high thread bed linens). Cloth masks with a pocket to insert a filter, such as a HEPA filter, have achieved some 48% filtration. Facemasks medical grade ASTM level 1, if tight on the face, very decent protectin at some 75%. KN95's from China, unknown. Could be counterfeit and lack the blown melt filtration material in inner layers. Not recommended. FFP2 respirators certified by the European Union, excellent protection at 94% filtration. NIOSH approved N95s (beware of counterfeits), 95% filtration at least, could be a bit more; but the ones with exhalation valve only protect the wearer, not the community (but people can put a surgical facemask on top of it, too). ASTM level 2 and level 3 medical grade surgical masks enhanced by 3 rubber bands or a brace made of neoprene rubber shits, 98% filtration of 0.1micron particulates, thus outperforming even N95s. NIOSH N99 and N100, best protection but bulky and hard to find. All the "N"s need to be professionally sized and fitted for tight seal, to achieve these numbers.

And of course pulling a mask down your nose or letting it hand from one ear or under your jaw as I've seen multiple times in public, doesn't help. Touching and readjusting the mask all the time with unclean fingers can actually backfire. So masks are good but only when used properly, of course.

Of all the options above, I find that the best one in terms of availability, cost, and comfort of use, is an ASTM level 3 surgical mask with a neoprene rubber brace, coupled with medical grade goggles for the eyes. Someone so equipped would be getting at most a 2% inhalation of viruses if the person comes in contact with an aerosol cloud, and it's been established that smaller inoculation may result in lower viral load with asymptomatic or mild disease; so indeed ASTM level 3 masks deliver very good protection, and they are comfortable and easy to use all day long if need be (ideally, replaced every 2 hours but with the shortage, it is acceptable to use one per day).

Like you said, no masks, not even NIOSH N100, can provide 100% protection despite the latter's name. Like you said, only a spacesuit would deliver 100% protection.

As for the stupid politicization of the use of masks, which should be a matter of public health rather than a matter of partisan politics, I entirely agree with you.

In Japan 98% of the population has adhered to masks. It's already a cultural tradition there so it was easy for them. Over here we've been acting stupidly around masks, because the same people who are against them, are the ones claiming for more economic activity, and if we were all wearing masks, our economy would be better able to fully reopen. So people are shooting themselves in the foot by not adopting a simple, cheap, harmless, and effective device.

 

I've posted multiple times, including IIRC in response to you, a link to a meta-analysis of 29 scientific papers (and posted a screen picture of the table summarizing the results), all 29 done with coronaviruses (SARS-1, MERS, and SARS-CoV-2), both with respirators and surgical masks, both in healthcare settings and community settings, and ALL 29 studies showed a reduction in the relative risk of catching the disease for the mask wearers rather than the maskless subjects. The reduction varied in degree (favoring the N95 respirators) but even just the facemasks and just in the community, resulted in a reduction of the relative risk. These were not merely laboratory studies (they do exist, too), but real life, on the field data, looking at the number of "events", that is, how many people who wore masks got infected with one of the three diseases being studied, as compared to the ones who did not.

This is pretty convincing proof that masks do work... no need to get info from ABC. By the way I very rarely pay attention to the main stream media. I form my opinion based on scientific studies.

Now, when you look at the pretty convincing studies - not one, not two, but 29 - and observe what happened in Kansas, which yes, is a correlation, but highly suggestive, it seems pretty clear and definitive that masks work (never at 100%, but they do decrease risk to at least some degree).

What happened in Kansas? She State Supreme Court took down the governor's mask mandate, and allowed each county to issue their own rules. 15 counties decided to implement mask mandates. 90 did not. Despite these 15 being the ones more prone to high levels of infection because they were the more urban ones with public transportation and what not, ALL 15 saw a striking drop in rates of infection, no exceptions; while ALL 90 that didn't implement the mandate, continued to show high rates of infection, no exception. Sure, just a correlation, but the fact that all 15 with masks went one way, and all 90 without masks went the opposite way, would have to be hugely improbable coincidence if masks had nothing to do with it. That's why I say that this is not proof, it's a correlation, but it is very suggestive, and I'd say that the 29 studies do provide proof.

Now, can people still catch the illness with masks? Absolutely. Otherwise no healthcare worker would ever catch it, and we know that many do, and some even die. Like any person with common sense knows, masks protect, but not at 100% so it's advisable to wear one as an additional measure but people shouldn't be over-confident and do away with social distancing, hand hygiene, eye protection, etc., just because they are wearing a mask.

Someone said "in Australia there is a mask mandate and cases are still going up." Well, the thing is, most likely cases would go up even higher and faster without the masks. That's the point of the concept of relative risk. The risk doesn't drop to zero but it gets reduced.

 

Yes, but only to a certain degree. Brownian movement traps the smallest particles. The coronavirus is 0.1 micron in diameter, and studies with ASTM level 3 masks have shown a filtration of 98% of 0.1 micron particulates. Like you said, some will still go through, it's not 100%, but 98% is pretty good.

What would you prefer, to breath in 100% of the virus expelled by someone next to you who has the disease, or just 2%? It's been proposed that people with a very small viral load are more likely to have brief, asymptomatic cases (with the body's defenses getting rid of the virus before it can multiply and spread too much) and come out of them with immunity and no organ damage, as opposed to a massive dose of virus.

 

Absolutely. Even though I see better results in places with mandates and fines, I still am philosophically and politically against mandates. I'd favor an extensive public health educational campaign, with the committed involvement of our political leaders of all parties, over any kind of mandate. Like I said over and over, one catches more flies with honey than with vinegar.

 

So bandana's, neck gaiters, and home made cloth masks are the equivalent of ASTM level 3 masks? Who knew!

 

To all the mask non-believers, condoms don't work either! Stop using them, especially when with a prostitute!

 

Masks no masks. Social distancing is still the more important part of the combination and masks, whether they work or not, are causing people not to social distance. Early on, when every day was like a lazy sunday afternoon in stores and streets largely empty, our cases were low. Stimulus checks came out and things picked up a lot, including our new case trend. Then came 4th of July weekend/week when everybody around here vacations, and cases exploded. Now more people are wearing masks because of the explosion in numbers, but they are not social distancing and our numbers keep growing and growing, including the number of dead. We really need another shutdown to break people of the habit of going about their daily lives like everything is okay just because they have a mask on.

 

Give me a better argument. Condoms haven't been part of my life for multiple decades, and prostitutes have never been.

 

When did I say that??? Have you missed this whole paragraph in one of my posts above???

 

Ok, stop locking your doors, they don't work either, Criminals can always just break your window so who needs doors and why should they be locked?

 

Now that American Capitalism has rose to the occasion they can be had in every conceivable graphic design, some custom ordered. Hell, masks may become a fashion statement long after the danger has passed.

 

Even better is to say to mask non-believers: "don't wear a mask to protect yourself and others from COVID-19, that's not manly and is for chickens like all those "liberuls" snowflakes who believe in hoaxes, but do wear one because it will stop Bill Gates and George Soros from using face recognition software through the 5G network to track you down and spy on you and dominate the world." That should do it.

 

So in your opinion placing a paper tissue over your mouth and nose when you sneeze or cough will not catch any of the material expelled?

 

That's actually really good! I like it!

 

Masks are an additional measure and should not substitute for social distancing, you are right.
Ideally people would exercise a combination of the three Ws: Wear a mask, Watch your distance from others, and Wash your hands.
A good educational campaign with these themes might help. I'm appalled that our federal government hasn't sponsored a nation-wide campaign like this, and our state governors haven't, either. I watch international satellite TV due to the fact that I speak some foreign languages and following the news from abroad keeps my language skills sharp, and I routinely see during commercial breaks, governmental-sponsored ads teaching people how and why to use masks and social distance, etc.

As for redoing a lockdown, that ship has sailed. We missed the opportunity to do it right, and now it's to late. Now, nobody would obey one, anyway. It's unfortunate that our lockdown was so botched and so poorly planned and executed. It hurt the economy more than it should have (it would have been sufficient to have more payroll protection rather than giving checks to individuals), and didn't control the outbreak sufficiently as it was chaotic, heterogeneous, politically divisive, with too many exempt categories, too short, and with our leaders not fully committed to it.

 

My city has wear a mask signs all over the place along roads and at most main road ramps and intersections. Not a one about social distancing or handwashing. They don't want people to social distance if that keeps sales taxes from flowing in unfortunately.

 

Same goes for the wall. Not perfect but definitely a deterrent

 

Locks only slow them down, it doesn't stop them if they are determined to get in.

What I do once they get in, is what stops them.

 

Some, not all. Though I don't believe I've seen anyone cover their mouth with a tissue, that's usually the inner elbow for sneezes and coughs, but you'll also note, the removal of the elbow is usually immediate, so any residual is out there.

 

Creative, I like that. Not exactly sane, but creative!

I don't worry about 'manly', 'liberals' or hoaxes.

 

Hey, I'm not the insane one. I'm just proposing what the insane ones would probably believe in. Nothing like throwing a conspiracy theory at conspiracy theorists; they will love it and gobble it up.

I didn't mean to say that YOU are one of those; my posts had a definite humor touch.

 

My skin is thick, and sanity is subjective.

There are some positive aspects to 'masking', when around the elderly and those with high risk. Personally, I believe those that are that concerned, should be reducing their public exposure.

 

Look at this guy who thought he didn't need a mask; look at what happened to his wife. The Darwin Award claims the life of another covidiot. And they were one of the people who believed in the 5G conspiracy theory. See what I mean?

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53892856