7 ms·
They probably were not wearing a mask. It's possible the patient never encountered anyone wearing a mask until the moment that coronavirus was considered as a d
by testplzignore 7y ago
They probably were not wearing a mask. It's possible the patient never encountered anyone wearing a mask until the moment that coronavirus was considered as a diagnosis. My basic understanding of this is that it is simply uncomfortable for healthcare workers to wear masks all of the time, and they interfere with patients being able to see their faces (which humans usually like, even when it is a bad idea).
I am interested to hear from anyone in the healthcare field regarding this and if there are any policy changes being put in place, even in regions where coronavirus hasn't (knowingly) spread to yet. From a layman's perspective, it would make sense to require every healthcare worker - particularly in ERs - to immediately start wearing masks.
- asdff 7y agoThere aren't enough masks in the U.S. to equip every healthcare worker for the duration of this virus.
- mikekchar 7y agoHaving spent considerable time at the hospital in Japan in the last few years, it now seems strange to me. Even my GP, In the 7 years or so that I've been seeing him, I've only ever seen him without a mask once (and I unfortunately get to see him a good 20 times a year :-P). Cultural differences are so strange...
- asdff 7y agoI'm referring to an n95 mask, but I'm betting in Japan workers are just wearing surgical masks. There are plenty of surgical masks in the U.S., of course. They aren't for this purpose, though. I'd assume it's for cultural reasons that surgical masks are worn that much in Japan, probably just makes patients feel comfortable. Surgical masks are to protect frail patients from your spit and snot, or to keep your spit and snot out of an open body during surgery. Wearing one won't protect you from disease.