4 ms·

I don't understand why people feel the need to say stuff like this. It's dangerous and wrong. Yes, sure, masks are ineffective if you define "effective" as "a

by lukev 7y ago

I don't understand why people feel the need to say stuff like this. It's dangerous and wrong. Yes, sure, masks are ineffective if you define "effective" as "a complete barrier to infection". Congratulations, you've successfully unmasked the the grand mask conspiracy. Except that definition is next to useless. What masks do do is reduce the amount of aerosolized particles that are emitted and inhaled. It's not meant to be a protective barrier, it's meant to be a numbers game. Saying masks are useless is like saying you can catch Covid from your mailman, so if you accept mail packages you may as well just go to a concert. It's all about volume and probability of contact. I'd also be interested to hear someone with more knowledge of the science weigh in on the studies he cites. If masks are as completely useless as he claims, I would expect the (already high) infection rate among medical providers to be even higher, at 100%. What gives?

DanBC 7y ago
People make two claims for masks. 1) They prevent the wearer from getting the virus from other people. 2) The prevent the wearer giving the virus to other people. People talk a lot about viral load, and about breathing droplets deep into your lungs. So, (2) doesn't make much sense to me. The person with mild covid-19 infection places a mask around their mouth and nose, thus trapping all those infected droplets, which then get breathed back in. If the mechanism of action really is "breathing the virus causes severe infection" why would you want to trap the virus by your mouth and nose? > If masks are as completely useless as he claims They're not saying they're completely useless. They're saying that lots of the people wearing masks expect 100% protection, even if they're doing fucking stupid things. There's absolutely no point in both wearing a mask and going to a football match. https://www.thenational.ae/image/policy:1.998514:1585469410/337768-01-05.jpg?$p=bbe75aa&w=1136&$w=ec52ab9 https://www.thenational.ae/image/policy:1.998514:1585469410/... If we're going to force people to wear masks we need to make sure they're wearing them correctly, because an incorrectly worn mask may do more harm than good.

by lukev 7y ago

DanBC 7y ago

People make two claims for masks. 1) They prevent the wearer from getting the virus from other people. 2) The prevent the wearer giving the virus to other people. People talk a lot about viral load, and about breathing droplets deep into your lungs. So, (2) doesn't make much sense to me. The person with mild covid-19 infection places a mask around their mouth and nose, thus trapping all those infected droplets, which then get breathed back in. If the mechanism of action really is "breathing the virus causes severe infection" why would you want to trap the virus by your mouth and nose? > If masks are as completely useless as he claims They're not saying they're completely useless. They're saying that lots of the people wearing masks expect 100% protection, even if they're doing fucking stupid things. There's absolutely no point in both wearing a mask and going to a football match. https://www.thenational.ae/image/policy:1.998514:1585469410/337768-01-05.jpg?$p=bbe75aa&w=1136&$w=ec52ab9 https://www.thenational.ae/image/policy:1.998514:1585469410/... If we're going to force people to wear masks we need to make sure they're wearing them correctly, because an incorrectly worn mask may do more harm than good.