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Masks also help you avoid getting the virus if you’re not infected. It’s a complete myth that they don’t; literally all research points in the same direction.

ChrisBland 7y ago
Of course; we just can't say that part out loud otherwise there would be a run on masks and the healthcare workers would be in such a shortage it would further exacerbate the strain on the healthcare system.
- mindslight 7y ago
  Is there not already a run on masks? More like the truth is not being said because then people would be more inclined to ask questions like why the "greatest country on earth" is unable to procure basic necessities for a crisis, especially with two months to prepare.
GuB-42 7y ago
Yes, if we somehow manage to get a massive supply of masks, I expect all officials to do a 180 turn and ask everyone to wear them. The problem now is that we don't have enough, so we downplay their effectiveness, to limit panic buying and to make sure that people who need them the most get them. It is a perfectly understandable, though a little dishonest strategy. Also, we don't to give people a false sense of security, being close to someone with a mask is still worse than being far from someone without a mask.
- xamuel 7y ago
  It runs the risk, though, of murdering the credibility of those officials. Who will trust anything they say, when they're right there on the record intentionally telling ridiculous lies? If masks should be diverted to hospitals, then the correct action would be to divert them to hospitals, not to lie to people.
- kijin 7y ago
  You don't even need to wear a N95 mask, or wear it according to the book. Anything that can reduce the number of virus particles you are exposed to when someone nearby sneezes, or when you touch a surface that was recently sneezed on and then touch your face, can be helpful when millions of people do the same. A T-shirt over your mouth or a handkerchief tied around your head might not protect you personally. But if enough people wear them, even a small reduction of viral load in the community will compound over time and result in a meaningful difference in the total number of cases and the load it puts on a nation's health system. That's what ultimately matters, and that's what the Japanese and Koreans understand. Any country that has the guts to order their citizens to stay home should also have the sense to order them to cover their faces with something substantial whenever they have a valid reason to be outside, e.g. going to work.
- Symmetry 7y ago
  I don't know if that's true. Surgical masks are pretty good at stopping droplets but they only stop 80% of virus sized particles and that's really not good enough for most medical use cases. It's a lot easier to teach new doctors and nurses "surgical masks don't protect you" than go into details. I expect health officials are just repeating the received wisdom which is close enough to true in their circumstances rather than deliberately being deceptive. People round off quantitative information to qualitative judgements all the time. Nate Silver still has people being angry at him for "Predicting Hillary would win" when he said at there was a 2/3 chance of that happening. It's such a pervasive phenomenon I don't see any reason to think it couldn't be happening here.
paranoidrobot 7y ago
This is repeated a lot, however just like most things - there's more nuance to it than just "wear masks". In most places, there's simply not enough masks to protect those most at risk (eg: healthcare workers who are constantly in contact with infected patients) AND to have everyone in the community using them. Improper use of masks is at best pointless, at worst can actually make things worse. The vast majority of people are not used to wearing PPE or dealing with contaminated items. It requires some level of training to fit and wear a mask correctly, and how to properly dispose of them. You see this with a number of people touching the outside of their mask, and then scratching their face/nose/eyes. or pulling their mask down below their nose, or where it's not even properly sealed around their mouth.
- endorphone 7y ago
  They didn't say just wear masks. You're beating on a strawman. Masks protect the wearer. This is blatantly obvious and scientific reality. Messages to the contrary are absolute propaganda (for instance a common line is "there is no evidence to show protection for civilians"[1] --- because there has never been a study for that case. Yet it's a specious, absurd claim because we know the masks are protective). Yes, masks are in short supply. This doesn't make misinformation acceptable (including the absurd, anti-reality claim that unless you're perfectly trained and certified perfectly fitted it is "pointless", which is just ridiculous noise). People already touch their face hundreds to thousands of times a day, so the other fear mongering "you'll adjust it" is another bit of nonsensical noise. As supplies ramp up and we have to return to some semblance of normal society, masks will not only be seen prevalently, they'll be encouraged as one mechanism of controlling spread. And at the time it'll be interesting how all of the propagandists change their tune. [1] Excluding the evidence in front of our eyes where countries where mask use is prevalent are seeing little spread.
- tomp 7y ago
  Can you explain how improper use of masks can make things worse?
  - monkeywork 7y ago

ChrisBland 7y ago

Of course; we just can't say that part out loud otherwise there would be a run on masks and the healthcare workers would be in such a shortage it would further exacerbate the strain on the healthcare system.

mindslight 7y ago
Is there not already a run on masks? More like the truth is not being said because then people would be more inclined to ask questions like why the "greatest country on earth" is unable to procure basic necessities for a crisis, especially with two months to prepare.

GuB-42 7y ago

Yes, if we somehow manage to get a massive supply of masks, I expect all officials to do a 180 turn and ask everyone to wear them. The problem now is that we don't have enough, so we downplay their effectiveness, to limit panic buying and to make sure that people who need them the most get them. It is a perfectly understandable, though a little dishonest strategy. Also, we don't to give people a false sense of security, being close to someone with a mask is still worse than being far from someone without a mask.

xamuel 7y ago
It runs the risk, though, of murdering the credibility of those officials. Who will trust anything they say, when they're right there on the record intentionally telling ridiculous lies? If masks should be diverted to hospitals, then the correct action would be to divert them to hospitals, not to lie to people.
kijin 7y ago
You don't even need to wear a N95 mask, or wear it according to the book. Anything that can reduce the number of virus particles you are exposed to when someone nearby sneezes, or when you touch a surface that was recently sneezed on and then touch your face, can be helpful when millions of people do the same. A T-shirt over your mouth or a handkerchief tied around your head might not protect you personally. But if enough people wear them, even a small reduction of viral load in the community will compound over time and result in a meaningful difference in the total number of cases and the load it puts on a nation's health system. That's what ultimately matters, and that's what the Japanese and Koreans understand. Any country that has the guts to order their citizens to stay home should also have the sense to order them to cover their faces with something substantial whenever they have a valid reason to be outside, e.g. going to work.
Symmetry 7y ago
I don't know if that's true. Surgical masks are pretty good at stopping droplets but they only stop 80% of virus sized particles and that's really not good enough for most medical use cases. It's a lot easier to teach new doctors and nurses "surgical masks don't protect you" than go into details. I expect health officials are just repeating the received wisdom which is close enough to true in their circumstances rather than deliberately being deceptive. People round off quantitative information to qualitative judgements all the time. Nate Silver still has people being angry at him for "Predicting Hillary would win" when he said at there was a 2/3 chance of that happening. It's such a pervasive phenomenon I don't see any reason to think it couldn't be happening here.

paranoidrobot 7y ago

This is repeated a lot, however just like most things - there's more nuance to it than just "wear masks". In most places, there's simply not enough masks to protect those most at risk (eg: healthcare workers who are constantly in contact with infected patients) AND to have everyone in the community using them. Improper use of masks is at best pointless, at worst can actually make things worse. The vast majority of people are not used to wearing PPE or dealing with contaminated items. It requires some level of training to fit and wear a mask correctly, and how to properly dispose of them. You see this with a number of people touching the outside of their mask, and then scratching their face/nose/eyes. or pulling their mask down below their nose, or where it's not even properly sealed around their mouth.

endorphone 7y ago
They didn't say just wear masks. You're beating on a strawman. Masks protect the wearer. This is blatantly obvious and scientific reality. Messages to the contrary are absolute propaganda (for instance a common line is "there is no evidence to show protection for civilians"[1] --- because there has never been a study for that case. Yet it's a specious, absurd claim because we know the masks are protective). Yes, masks are in short supply. This doesn't make misinformation acceptable (including the absurd, anti-reality claim that unless you're perfectly trained and certified perfectly fitted it is "pointless", which is just ridiculous noise). People already touch their face hundreds to thousands of times a day, so the other fear mongering "you'll adjust it" is another bit of nonsensical noise. As supplies ramp up and we have to return to some semblance of normal society, masks will not only be seen prevalently, they'll be encouraged as one mechanism of controlling spread. And at the time it'll be interesting how all of the propagandists change their tune. [1] Excluding the evidence in front of our eyes where countries where mask use is prevalent are seeing little spread.
tomp 7y ago
Can you explain how improper use of masks can make things worse?
- monkeywork 7y ago