What if Everyone Wore a Mask?

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by letsgetsailing3

... I have a wife who is a health care worker. I know first hand the effects of shortages on health care workers, and the risks they're forced to take every day...

My niece is an E.R. nurse, in a major hospital.
She now gets 2 masks, for a 12 - 16 hour shift.

Nurses, not normally in direct treatment of patients, get 1 mask/shift.

[Lake-Effect]

Germany (following Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia) may soon mandate broader use of masks in public.

After Austria ordered shoppers to cover their mouths and noses in supermarkets, increasing numbers of regional officials in neighbouring Germany are urging the federal government to introduce a similar rule. The Czech Republic and Slovakia have also just made masks mandatory.
On Tuesday, the eastern city of Jena became the first German municipality to order mask use in shops and on public transport, though authorities are encouraging people to sew their own, or wear a protective cloth, rather than seek out medical masks which are in short supply.

[fivecapes]

I might be asymptomatic, I don’t know. I haven’t been tested, I can’t get tested, don’t want to be tested. I need to get TP/work/whatever. Do I need to wear a mask?

Signed
Everybody three months ago

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by fivecapes

I might be asymptomatic, I don’t know. I haven’t been tested, I can’t get tested, don’t want to be tested. I need to get TP/work/whatever. Do I need to wear a mask?

Signed
Everybody three months ago

I hope this doesn't interrupt my vacation plans. How's it going in Florida/the islands? Employer just gave me some time off work.

Signed,

Some people, today

[Dogscout]

Scientific illiteracy will lead to many deaths. I'm seeing way to many people out walking and driving around in the same mask that they have been wearing for a week. The masks are now looking dingy and worn and are likely covered in all kinds of bacteria and fecal matter. Keep it up and clean out the gene pool.

[mickt243]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

I'll just leave this here

Ummm.... don’t a whole lot of Chinese people wear masks?

[thinwater]

The CDC is now considering changing their policy towards masks:


(Washington Post)



"Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are considering altering the official guidance to encourage people to take measures to cover their faces amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a federal official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it is an ongoing matter of internal discussion and nothing has been finalized."


"CDC guidance on masks remains under development, the federal official said. The official said the new guidance would make clear that the general public should not use medical masks — including surgical and N95 masks — that are in desperately short supply and needed by health-care workers.

Instead, the recommendation under consideration calls for using do-it-yourself cloth coverings, according to a second official who shared that thinking on a personal Facebook account. It would be a way to help “flatten the curve,” the official noted.



Such DIY cloth masks would potentially lower the risk that the wearer, if infected, would transmit the virus to other people. Current CDC guidance is that healthy people don’t need masks or face coverings."


As I suggested in the opening post, the "no mask" guidance may be the old narrative, from a different point on the curve. As we can see, the narrative is evolving. Not surprising, times change.

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by thinwater

The CDC is now considering changing their policy towards masks:
As I suggested in the opening post, the "no mask" guidance may be the old narrative, from a different point on the curve. As we can see, the narrative is evolving. Not surprising, times change.

But it’s also because the situation has changed. It’s not to protect the mask wearer. It’s to protect everyone else FROM the mask wearer.

So surgical masks are fine. Homemade masks are fine. Leave the N95 masks for healthcare workers.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by letsgetsailing3

But it’s also because the situation has changed. It’s not to protect the mask wearer. It’s to protect everyone else FROM the mask wearer.

So surgical masks are fine. Homemade masks are fine. Leave the N95 masks for healthcare workers.

Further to this, the Austrians and Germans are only making masks mandatory in stores, on public transport, and other enclosed public spaces where people are close together. It's not a blanket "always wear a mask when out" order, so not necessary when out for a walk, etc.

[Fence Man]

I like my mask with a little bit of biocide sprinkled on top.

[Breaking Waves]

Originally Posted by letsgetsailing3

So surgical masks are fine. Homemade masks are fine. Leave the N95 masks for healthcare workers.

yes, sure, what thinwater and I have been saying all along.

N95s are not the nicest things to wear in any case. I'm looking after two 88year old parents, both with underlying respiratory (and other health) issues. They are very vulnerable. They stay isolated at home except for 'required' health care visits. But at their age, in their situation, those required visits seem to be minimum bi-weekly and sometimes weekly. We have them wear n95's on those visits - they intensely dislike them. My wife or I accompany them and wear surgical or DIY (which I have made) masks. The specific guidance from NY state is that in this situation my wife and I should also be wearing N95's because of how vulnerable the parents are, but we are not because we don't know how long this is going to go on and we don't have many n95's.


But it’s also because the situation has changed. It’s not to protect the mask wearer. It’s to protect everyone else FROM the mask wearer.



well:

1. Preliminary data suggesting asymptotic transmission has been out for somewhile. There was case transmission information out of China on January 28th indicating asymptotic transmission was occurring. Originally it was thought to be 15-20%, now it is thought to be 20-50%, but it was always known to be a meaningful potential vector. The western authorities just overlooked both this vector and the possible value of 'less than n95' masks and as a result, botched their response.
2. And for 'less that n95' masks, the protection is in fact both ways. Yes the reduced outwards transmission and social signaling are extremely valuable factors. But even the cdc now admit that 'less than N95' face covering can in fact provide some inward protection. They admit that if health care workers don't have N95's available that other coverings are better than nothing at all (for their protection). The conclusion is " The results demonstrated limitations of surgical masks in this context, although they are to some extent protective." So, sure, obviously less than ideal, less than N95 protection, but definitely a risk reduction of some more than zero amount.

The basics here have simply been clouded by concerns about N95 supply line and hoarding, and the response of the western authorities was to tell a 'white lie' - which backfired because it was transparent.

............

[Chotu]

@breaking_waves, I can attest to the fact that n95s are uncomfortable. That's what I usually wear for pollution protection. Other times I have to wear n(p)100 masks. Those are even worse.

You do, however, start to get used to them.

[letsgetsailing3]

Seems very likely that new guidance is going to come out from the CDC requesting people to wear homemade masks when they’re in public in the US.

They’ll likely request that people continue to leave the N95 masks for health care workers, who are at much greater risk due to frequency of close contact.

[fivecapes]

Singapore has just officially reversed its position of discouraging the use of masks. It will start distributing reusable and washable masks this Sunday to each resident, conceding to the dangers of asymptomatic spread.

[slug]

Yup

Sounds good