It's time to put masks back on, expert says

The wrong kind of masks or even the right kind but worn the wrong way are close to being useless (which explains why stats comparing geographic locations with different mandates don't fully explain anything, because the vast majority of even mask-wearing Americans wear the wrong kind and/or the wrong way, not to forget that compliance with mandates is very meager in rebellious America as compared to a docile population like Japan's, for example)... which doesn't mean that the right kinds of masks worn the correct way are also useless.

Given that I don't believe in mandates, it's a losing battle... But still, one just CAN'T say that masks are useless. They just aren't. The solution would be a VERY strong public announcement campaign to encourage and teach Americans to wear the right kinds, the right way, (together with Defense Production Act orders to dramatically increase the domestic production of the right kinds) but one, this has never happened here (unlike in other countries) and two, it's been so politically charged that a campaign won't work anyway because at least half of the population won't ever pay attention, given their preconceptions.

I'll grant you this: pragmatically speaking, masks are useless because the vast majority of Americans either won't wear them, or will but the wrong kind, or will even wear the right kind but the wrong way, so the real-life effect is meager.

The bottom line is:

1. Non-counterfeit, legitimately certified N95, PFF2, N100, and P100 respirators, and even facemasks provided that they are ASTM level 2 or 3 and are coupled with a seal-enhancement device, and provided that they are exchanged for new ones frequently (to preserve seal and electrostatic charges), a perfect seal is achieved (no facial hair in the way, no leaks), they do cover nose and mouth at all times, and the correct protocol is followed to don and doff them, avoiding contamination, and the correct protocol is followed for sterilization/reuse when necessary (which is not ideal), are HIGHLY protective, with in average 85% reduction in adjusted odds ratio and relative risk of acquiring the SARS-CoV-2. (Do notice that it's not 100%).

2. Likely 99.5% or more Americans (if we don't count the 20 million healthcare providers who have a better chance of following the above, although many don't - from observation, I'd guess that not more than one third of healthcare providers do it right and consistently) do not enjoy the above conditions, and are rather clueless about what to do (which is worsened by the absolute lack of consistent guidance from public health authorities and the absence of any educational campaign).

3. The wrong masks worn the wrong way are likely to be detrimental, by getting people to be over-confident, which contributes to exposure to the virus via other unreasonable behaviors - "I'm masked so I can afford to...[for example, remain longer in an indoor, crowded, poorly ventilated place, or get too close to others]" - Not to forget, people will touch a potentially contaminated external mask surface to readjust it, will pull it below the nose, will pull it below the mouth so that they can speak more clearly or eat/drink, etc., completely defeating even the partial protection they'd otherwise achieve. Neck gaiters, bandanas, cloth masks? Pffftt...

Conclusion: we Americans are too stupid, too rebellious, too misinformed, too uneducated, too short in domestic production of reliable PPE, and too politically polarized to make masks work here against this pandemic. That's why they appear like they don't work.

Me, I follow EVERYTHING that is listed in #1 above, I was around Covid-19 patients for over one year (lately I've been away from the front line), and I didn't catch it. Sure, I'm a case of one, but my colleagues who also do it the right way didn't catch it either, while others who are sloppy and didn't follow the full set of correct protocols, did catch it.

So, masks CAN work, but much more often than not given all the limitations above, they don't.

 

Masks are useless.....plain and simple.

 

This is all that you take from my long post? Wow. [Insert rolling eyes here].
Bravo. You sir, are a great contributor to this forum! What an intelligent answer!!!

 

Your long and bloated post is nothing more than a word salad. A complete waste of bandwidth.

 

So sorry that it flew over your head. I'm not surprised that you didn't get it, and that your attention span couldn't handle a few paragraphs. By the way, you've demonstrated that you don't deserve my attention. Your account is about to go out of the list of the ones I read. Have a long and safe life (and mask up). Over and out.

 

Typical spam......

 

You are the only one spouting tin foil mate .. You have no valid argument so you have to make stuff up in some lame attempt to demonize the messenger. I never said masks do nothing.

You were asked a "scientific" question in relation to "air flow through an orifice" - and failed to answer. When you breath out wearing a normal mask .. where does the air go ?

 

I never stopped wearing my N-95 masks in closed public buildings, even though I was fully-vaccinated months ago.

There are few things in this world more dangerous and ubiquitous than careless people... and I've always been careful when I have to be around lots of them....

Sure, wearing a mask is a drag, and I'd much rather not have to do that. But, even if you don't DIE from this virus (and its mutations), lying in a hospital bed gasping for breath for days on end is a much BIGGER drag....

 

The above is a nonsense statement .. You go on about "Science" - but don't seem to understand how science works.

Of course a mask limits "bodily spew" w/r to potential volume - not sure w/r to coverage area. This is a near meaningless statement without quantification - which is what we do in science in an attempt to answer the question .. is this limitation significant ?

Once again .. in a normal mask - as opposed to the "Darth Vader" mask - where does the vast majority of the air go ?

A) through the mask
B) through the gaps

Not sure if you are avoiding the answer - or just not using noggin .. but the answer is B.

So if the majortity of air is blasting through the gaps ... filling the room with very small particles that float - particles which individually contain tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of virus's.

So if you are standing behind someone in a grocery story .. and they cough into the mask .. where do you think the majority of the air flow is directed

A) at you
B) through the mask at the candle in front of the mask ?

Not sure about your area but we locked down and masked up before the second wave in my area - followed by "The second wave" .. and then later a third wave.

In a normal flue season some 10-20% get the flue - I thought 10 was low so used 20 - and added 5 .. so roughly 25% of the population who come into contact will contract Covid (assuming it is acting like a normal virus).

In my area - after reaching around 22% - cases dropped like a stone. NOT because of masks - NOT because of Vax as very were vaxed at the beginning of the third wave here - and we now know that vax does not reduce transmission in the majority of people - so even if they were vaxed it would not have helped much.

The reason for the decrease is because the strain - "varient" has run its course - runing out of people to infect. That is what "The Science" is suggesting.

 

Just got a shipment of 3M 8210s in yesterday. They're getting cheaper and easier to buy what with the risk of Chinese counterfeits being mitigated. I'm paying basically $1.28 per mask after tax and shipping. It such a simple and easy thing to do.

 

How much you paying for tinfoil?

 

Yanno, masks were supposedly worn to protect other people and not those who are wearing them. I am sure the big crowds of non-masked people are grateful for you protecting them.

 

Tin foil is on backorder, all the anti-maskers/vaxxers are hording it.

 

Too bad. I am sure you order will be filled soon.

 

Me too. A guy on Facebook told me I need at least a 3 inch layer to protect myself from the 5G nanotrackers Bill Gates put in the vaccine. That's a lot of foil but he looks like he knows what he's talking about, don't you think:

 

Meh, seems a bit extreme to me. All one has to do is have a mask. No one is saying you have to wear it.

 

I knew that and it's irrelevant. You're trying to pollute the fact that almost all people dying is unvaccinated. I see your BS and call.

 

In Joe's defense, he needs maximum olfactory performance to properly fulfill the duties of Lil' Girl Sniffer in Chief.

 

Yanno, I'm not a doctor or a medical researcher. All I know is that I've been following the pertinent information I 'get', and my own intuition following Xi Jinping's astounding announcement about this virus in late January 2019: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51249208 . Hint: leaders of totalitarian governments simply do not (NOT) use language like, "facing a grave situation" unless something truly horrific is happening -- and by the first week in February I was enacting my own plan to avoid this disease.

Wearing a mask, and, wearing 5-mil nitrile gloves before touching anything in public was part of my plan, along with immediately hoarding spray antiseptic, bleach, and other cleaning supplies, food that could be safely stored for at least two years, and other consumables (like those nitrile gloves).

Truth? Even though I'm fully Pfizer-vaxxed, I could, in theory, catch the virus or one of its mutations tomorrow and be dead in little over a week -- a fate that has befallen many others during the last 18 months (especially the "un-vaxxed"). But, here I am, an old, retired guy, still healthy and virus-free. We may agree that I'm doing something right? Good health to you, too!

 

Those 3M masks are the ones I tried so hard to get last year, but failed because they were just gone everywhere I searched! I eventually settled on some excellent KN-95 masks manufactured in the USA by a Houston-based company called "BNX".

I've heard unsubstantiated, persistent rumors that before the end of this year, we're going to see a "new-and-improved" COVID variant sweeping the planet which they'll call "Epsilon" (following the current method of using the Greek alphabet). Supposedly, it be even worse than "Delta". You never know, but, yeah, trusting my 'gut', I did just take delivery on another 20-pack of those BNX masks.... Good luck!

 

They're past Epsilon already. The next worrying variant is Lambda: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/...spreading-in-south-america-heres-what-we-know

 

Thank you very much! I try to stay on top of this virus 'thing', and I'd heard rumors about a really terrible, new variant which I assumed would be 'Epsilon' (coming after 'Delta' in the Greek alphabet)... but I was wrong and way behind, in spite of my efforts.

Guess it's time to go stock up on even more masks, nitrile gloves, bleach, Pine-sol, Lysol, canned food, vitamins, and, the rarest of all consumables -- ammunition! If this Lambda variant really gets 'legs', things may just be getting started to be worse than ever....

 

The facts I posted are still there regardless of your willingness to see. Long before the vaccine existed, the risk was still less than 1%, except for the frail.

 

I see you and others frequently point this out. I won't deny it, since it appears to be true. However, roughly 10% of people who get covid, of all ages, become "long-haulers" (https://health.ucdavis.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-information/covid-19-long-haulers.html). They continue to exhibit symptoms of infection, or appear to have some kind of long-term damage, from the virus. Folks keep pointing out the 1% mortality rate as though death is the only bad thing that can happen as a result of getting covid. There are people in "perfect health," like distance runners, who got covid and then struggled to walk to their mailbox even months after they had otherwise recovered from infection. Vaccinations and precautionary measures reduce the risk of infection and all of the problems that potentially come with that.

 

Good point. When it comes to existing illnesses, there are many levels between the two extremes. Existing illness is still the main factor. They should take that into consideration when making this decision.