3 ms·
Masks primarily protect others from you, if you are sick. They generally do not protect against others having the disease. If there are aerosols with the virus
by kebman 7y ago
Masks primarily protect others from you, if you are sick. They generally do not protect against others having the disease. If there are aerosols with the virus nearby, a mask won't help you, because your eyes are still exposed.
I agree that testing is the way to go, but there are only so many tests you can do (physically, depending on supplies), so you really have to prioritize those who have actual symptoms.
- adrianN 7y agoIf everybody wore a mask transmission risk would be lower, because the sick people would also wear a mask.
- wolco 7y agoI've heard this repeated many times over the last few weeks. Never heard the aerosol angle. On the surface it makes sense that masks wouldn't help. The more I think about it I come to a different conclusion. Masks do cut down water vapor being absorbed through the nose/mouth. It's not 100% but this isn't anthrax where a tiny droplet could kill everyone. Many people would use it improperly but simple public service announment instruction could solve that issue. Instead they use valuable public serivce announment time to tell everyone not to use a mask. I believe they do this to get people to not buy masks because they are afraid of supply issues. If we had a huge supply of masks people would be encouraged because it would cut down on spreading.
- frivoal 7y agoSome countries do have a huge mask supply: in Japan for instance, wearing a mask if you have a cold / in the cold season / in the pollen allergy season / … is very normal, and almost everybody has a box or two of masks laying around the house. If masks are even remotely useful, telling people not to were the masks they already own (because you touch your face or something) is also pretty nasty.