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Interesting that the advice here - masks not helpful - is almost totally and directly contradicted by the advice in all infectious disease transmission training
by thoraway1010 7y ago
Interesting that the advice here - masks not helpful - is almost totally and directly contradicted by the advice in all infectious disease transmission training, most other countries that have flattened the curve by dramatically increasing supply and distribution with mandated mask wearing, making them available at the post office etc.
The odd image of folks wearing masks saying masks don't help is not lost on most americans.
Here's a different doctors advice on masks:
The only way for the virus to infect you is through your nose or mouth via your hands or an infected cough or sneeze onto or into your nose or mouth. Use disposable surgical masks and use them to prevent you from touching your nose and/or mouth (We touch our nose/mouth 90X/day without knowing it!). This is the only way this virus can infect you - it is lung-specific. The mask is just to prevent hand to mouth contact, it will not avoid the sneeze part of things.
Masks are a low cost, non-hospital, low side effect, low economic impact intervention. Even if only minimally effective there are very few downsides to mask usage for an individual.
I've come to think that the re-assurance that this virus is "fully contained" - see Kudlow, that masks don't help (see this and others) will come back as some pretty bad advice later on. We'll see I guess.
- cma 7y agoThey are worried about the image of Americans wearing masks on TV. When that congressman in Trump’s plane found out he had been exposed mid-flight, they didn’t put a mask on him (at least not when he exited the plane). So even in a national security critical situation (president is in 70s), image is way more important.
- thoraway1010 7y agoYes - I've heard that. The whole don't want to worry people by wearing masks. If you aren't wearing a mask a sneeze near me I'm more worried not less. I don't know where the don't wear masks they aren't helpful push came from. I think perhaps a misguided attempt to deal with a resource constraint (ie, lie to them about mask benefit so they won't wear them and worry others and won't use them?) It's totally unique to the US however. Asia is going the other way.
- shkkmo 7y agoWho is saying masks are not helpful? The closest thing the article says is that you should not hoard masks, that their usefulness is against airborne particles is limited to 30 min and that masks can make some people touch their face more.
- thoraway1010 7y ago"Masks are NOT the most useful thing you can do to protect yourself: they’re hard to wear properly, especially for long periods of time, and their effectiveness against viral particles stops as the filter gets moist with your breathing. Also for some people, wearing a mask makes it more likely that they will touch their face." Reality - masks are a valid, additional step. And given all the other crazy, high cost, high impact steps being taken to "flatten the curve" a low cost low impact step like mask wearing should be on the recommendations list. Even kids (ultra low risk) in shanghai are wearing masks in the playgrounds. And here we have older adults squeezed onto mass transit and are telling them all the reasons why masks may not help. To flatten the curve all low cost low impact steps should be taken.
- bluGill 7y agoIn Asia it is common to wear masks for air pollution reasons. It might or might not help with a virus, but you can't cite kids in Shanghai unless you can show there is an increase.
- samatman 7y agoAre you joking, or just not current? Single-digit percentages of Asians are wearing masks under normal circumstances, some for pollution and mostly because it's expected if you have a respiratory infection. Masks are now required in public in substantial parts of China. You can be arrested if you leave the house without one.
- thoraway1010 7y agoI was basing this off first person accounts from ex-pats in asia - the big message was that masks are now worn both as a courtesy to others and in some cases are required and kids don't like to wear masks - which makes it tricky when they are mandated. I can't find the blog though.
- DoofusOfDeath 7y agoSlightly off-topic, but does anyone know about the efficacy of coughing/sneezing into one's shirt (by pulling the collar above the mouth or nose) when there are no better alternatives? I do that, on the theory that it will trap much of the contaminated droplets leaving my body, preventing the from reaching the air and surfaces nearby.
- samatman 7y agoAnything is better than just firing off onto all surrounding surfaces, maybe. My concern here is that a lot of it is going to get through the shirt and onto your hand, after which you'll touch surfaces. The elbow sneeze is probably the better choice tbh.
- huhtenberg 7y agoNot effective, it still results in a significant spray. Sneeze/cough into the crook of your arm instead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdqgg_TJL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdqgg_TJL
- DoofusOfDeath 7y agoYoutube is telling me that that video is unavailable.
- huhtenberg 7y agoWhoops, my bad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdqgg_TJL8c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdqgg_TJL8c