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Your own cite says that surgical masks are ineffective but properly fitted N95 masks can be effective. I believe that they filter droplets well, e.g. from sneez

Your own cite says that surgical masks are ineffective but properly fitted N95 masks can be effective. I believe that they filter droplets well, e.g. from sneezing. https://www.asahq.org/about-asa/governance-and-committees/asa-committees/committee-on-occupational-health/coronavirus https://www.asahq.org/about-asa/governance-and-committees/as...

chrisco255 7y ago
I think they're better than nothing but as someone else mentioned the virus is 0.1 to 0.3 microns and the N95 only filters 95% of particles 3 microns or larger.
- _-___________-_ 7y ago
  I haven't seen conclusive evidence that they're better than nothing.
  - pmorici 7y ago
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4868605/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4868605/ Here you go
    - _-___________-_ 7y ago
      This study only finds that N95 are not more effective than surgical masks. It does not measure the effectiveness of surgical masks vs nothing. Did you actually read the study before posting a link to it? It's worth also noting that this refers to healthcare workers. The considerations are totally different here, because the likelihood that they'll come into close contact with an infected person is pretty close to 100%. The likelihood that a member of the public will in most Asian countries with 20 or so cases and a few tens of million people is more like 0.00001% give or take a couple of orders of magnitude.
- zone411 7y ago
  See https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/transmission.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/transmission... "Most often, spread from person-to-person happens among close contacts (about 6 feet). Person-to-person spread is thought to occur mainly via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how influenza and other respiratory pathogens spread." https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/EPO/Pages/Wildfire%20Pages/N95-Respirators-FAQs.aspx https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/EPO/Pages/Wildfire%20Pages/... "An N95 respirator is particularly effective against aerosolized droplets that are invisible to the naked eye."
  - chrisco255 7y ago
    These droplets can infect you through your eyes as well. Like I said, the mask helps, but no it's not virus proof as Wuhan healthcare workers can attest.
- vonquant 7y ago
  That may well be, but the predominant concern is larger droplets from a cough or sneeze. I don't recall seeing anything speaking of airborne transmission.
- wbl 7y ago
  Smaller particles get filtered through diffusion based processes: they like landing on surfaces, and the mask is full of surfaces.
- swsieber 7y ago
  The virus isn't going to be airborne naked as an individual thing in the free air - it's going to be in droplets of stuff (from sneezing, coughing, etc).
- samatman 7y ago
  You're picturing a bare virus flying through the air and getting through a mask. That's not a plausible route of transmission. The virus would be embedded in a much larger particle of human mucus, and an N95 mask will do a fine job of filtering that out.

chrisco255 7y ago

I think they're better than nothing but as someone else mentioned the virus is 0.1 to 0.3 microns and the N95 only filters 95% of particles 3 microns or larger.

_-___________-_ 7y ago
I haven't seen conclusive evidence that they're better than nothing.
- pmorici 7y ago
  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4868605/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4868605/ Here you go
  - _-___________-_ 7y ago
    This study only finds that N95 are not more effective than surgical masks. It does not measure the effectiveness of surgical masks vs nothing. Did you actually read the study before posting a link to it? It's worth also noting that this refers to healthcare workers. The considerations are totally different here, because the likelihood that they'll come into close contact with an infected person is pretty close to 100%. The likelihood that a member of the public will in most Asian countries with 20 or so cases and a few tens of million people is more like 0.00001% give or take a couple of orders of magnitude.
zone411 7y ago
See https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/transmission.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/transmission... "Most often, spread from person-to-person happens among close contacts (about 6 feet). Person-to-person spread is thought to occur mainly via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how influenza and other respiratory pathogens spread." https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/EPO/Pages/Wildfire%20Pages/N95-Respirators-FAQs.aspx https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/EPO/Pages/Wildfire%20Pages/... "An N95 respirator is particularly effective against aerosolized droplets that are invisible to the naked eye."
- chrisco255 7y ago
  These droplets can infect you through your eyes as well. Like I said, the mask helps, but no it's not virus proof as Wuhan healthcare workers can attest.
vonquant 7y ago
That may well be, but the predominant concern is larger droplets from a cough or sneeze. I don't recall seeing anything speaking of airborne transmission.
wbl 7y ago
Smaller particles get filtered through diffusion based processes: they like landing on surfaces, and the mask is full of surfaces.
swsieber 7y ago
The virus isn't going to be airborne naked as an individual thing in the free air - it's going to be in droplets of stuff (from sneezing, coughing, etc).
samatman 7y ago
You're picturing a bare virus flying through the air and getting through a mask. That's not a plausible route of transmission. The virus would be embedded in a much larger particle of human mucus, and an N95 mask will do a fine job of filtering that out.