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It's been +6 months of Coronavirus, and still people don't get this right: Wearing a mask (for the most of us not working in healthcare) prevents you from spre

by scoutt 6y ago

It's been +6 months of Coronavirus, and still people don't get this right: Wearing a mask (for the most of us not working in healthcare) prevents you from spreading the disease. It's not for protecting yourself, but for protecting others. Since you can spread the disease even without having symptoms, and showing symptoms can take up to 15 days, then you should wear a mask, specially in closed, crowded spaces. There is no hidden agenda, conspiracy or whatever satisfies your imagination.

rimliu 6y ago
I am not sure science is clear about "you can spread the disease even without having symptoms". I've seen a couple back and forth arguments but nothing conclusive. Also, 15 days to get symptoms is an extreme outlier. Median is around 5 days.
- scoutt 6y ago
  > science is clear about Have you read OP's article, and what is about? Anyway, being able to spread without or very mild symptoms is the main thing of this disease, and this is why it can saturate hospitals in no time. Otherwise, if you are just contagious when in bed and with fever, the spread will be lower. > 15 days I said 'up to'. And most countries use 15 days to measure quarantine effects. In Italy we had a very high peak (~5K infections/day), and because of those measures (and some good sense) we managed to lower it to 200/day, totaling 13K infected.
gameswithgo 6y ago
>It's not for protecting yourself It does protect yourself, also. >There is no hidden agenda, conspiracy or whatever satisfies your imagination. Early on, the CDC and WHO were both saying NOT to wear masks. The hidden agenda at that time was to prevent a run on masks that might prevent health care workers from having enough. That was the lie.
- scoutt 6y ago
  > It does protect yourself, also. True, but not 100% accurate. You can get it also through your eyes, or by touching something infected like a door knob and touching your eyes or mouth. > CDC and WHO were both saying NOT to wear masks I believe they were saying to not rush and PURCHASE masks, that is different to say "NOT to wear masks". It was the period they were appealing to common sense: to keep a distance from others and cough in a kleenex or in your arm, and stay at home.
  - gameswithgo 6y ago
    Quote from WHO in May: >If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with COVID-19," the WHO guidelines read. That was the early advice, countries with experience in pandemics like Korea knew this was bad advice. Seems to have been generally common knowledge that wearing masks reduces the chance of both contracting and spreading, which is why doctors wears masks
    - scoutt 6y ago
      I think you refer to this: https://www.facebook.com/WHO/posts/2953744821337548 https://www.facebook.com/WHO/posts/2953744821337548 Also: "Wear a mask if you are coughing or sneezing" They don't say "NOT to wear masks", as you said earlier. These are 2 different messages.
      - SuoDuanDao 6y ago
        Various local administrations (at least here in Canada) did, justifying it by saying you'd be more likely to touch your face to adjust it. It was simply a misinformation campaign to avoid supply shortages but the resulting erosion of trust is hard to counteract.
        deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
- 6y ago
kanox 6y ago
> Wearing a mask (for the most of us not working in healthcare) prevents you from spreading the disease. It's not for protecting yourself, but for protecting others. This is true for surgical and cloth masks but you can also buy better masks that also protect the wearer.
jsight 6y ago
> Wearing a mask (for the most of us not working in healthcare) prevents you from spreading the disease. It's not for protecting yourself, but for protecting others. How does the mask know in which direction it is providing protection?
- scoutt 6y ago
  I'll stick to the guidelines and assume your message is in good will.... It prevents your spits to reach other's noses and mouths. If all of us wear masks, then no spits flying around = no spread.
- mirchibajji 6y ago
  From what I understand, it is the size of the droplets. The ones leaving the wearer's mouth are much larger, therefore higher chances of the mask stopping them. The ones that are lingering in the air are smaller, which most face coverings (ie, not proper fitted masks) have lower chances of stopping from entering a wearer's mask.
  - jsight 6y ago
    I get that, but mask usage is not 100% for many reasons. Larger droplets hitting the wearers mask from the outside are also possible for many reasons.
    - scoutt 6y ago
      Mask usage is good enough. Even better if every person in the world uses them. Want 100% effectiveness? Then stay at home.
      - jsight 6y ago
        Sorry, I didn't mean that it isn't 100% effective, although that is true too. I meant that not everyone will wear them. The improvement is still >0 in protecting oneself.
mensetmanusman 6y ago
To clarify: There are many different types of masks. Masks in the health care context are designed to protect the wearer. N95 masks block 99.9% of incoming nanoscale particles, but are designed to be easy to breath, so have valves or release-seals on the perimeter so that you can breath out with no resistance. i.e. they are not at all designed to protect others from yourself, but they do help. Cloth masks provide <10% filtration efficacy for breathing in, so they are not appropriate for the industrial/medical arenas. Anything in front of your face helps stop large droplets. Medical people wear eye protection because covid enters through the eyes as well.
- scoutt 6y ago
  Thanks. Yes, I clarified some points in other answers. My message was intended to be as simple as possible, because a healthcare worker won't be even questioning all these facts after six months of life/death struggle.

by scoutt 6y ago

rimliu 6y ago

I am not sure science is clear about "you can spread the disease even without having symptoms". I've seen a couple back and forth arguments but nothing conclusive. Also, 15 days to get symptoms is an extreme outlier. Median is around 5 days.

scoutt 6y ago
> science is clear about Have you read OP's article, and what is about? Anyway, being able to spread without or very mild symptoms is the main thing of this disease, and this is why it can saturate hospitals in no time. Otherwise, if you are just contagious when in bed and with fever, the spread will be lower. > 15 days I said 'up to'. And most countries use 15 days to measure quarantine effects. In Italy we had a very high peak (~5K infections/day), and because of those measures (and some good sense) we managed to lower it to 200/day, totaling 13K infected.

gameswithgo 6y ago

>It's not for protecting yourself It does protect yourself, also. >There is no hidden agenda, conspiracy or whatever satisfies your imagination. Early on, the CDC and WHO were both saying NOT to wear masks. The hidden agenda at that time was to prevent a run on masks that might prevent health care workers from having enough. That was the lie.

scoutt 6y ago
> It does protect yourself, also. True, but not 100% accurate. You can get it also through your eyes, or by touching something infected like a door knob and touching your eyes or mouth. > CDC and WHO were both saying NOT to wear masks I believe they were saying to not rush and PURCHASE masks, that is different to say "NOT to wear masks". It was the period they were appealing to common sense: to keep a distance from others and cough in a kleenex or in your arm, and stay at home.
- gameswithgo 6y ago
  Quote from WHO in May: >If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with COVID-19," the WHO guidelines read. That was the early advice, countries with experience in pandemics like Korea knew this was bad advice. Seems to have been generally common knowledge that wearing masks reduces the chance of both contracting and spreading, which is why doctors wears masks
  - scoutt 6y ago
    I think you refer to this: https://www.facebook.com/WHO/posts/2953744821337548 https://www.facebook.com/WHO/posts/2953744821337548 Also: "Wear a mask if you are coughing or sneezing" They don't say "NOT to wear masks", as you said earlier. These are 2 different messages.
    - SuoDuanDao 6y ago
      Various local administrations (at least here in Canada) did, justifying it by saying you'd be more likely to touch your face to adjust it. It was simply a misinformation campaign to avoid supply shortages but the resulting erosion of trust is hard to counteract.
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
6y ago

kanox 6y ago

> Wearing a mask (for the most of us not working in healthcare) prevents you from spreading the disease. It's not for protecting yourself, but for protecting others. This is true for surgical and cloth masks but you can also buy better masks that also protect the wearer.

jsight 6y ago

> Wearing a mask (for the most of us not working in healthcare) prevents you from spreading the disease. It's not for protecting yourself, but for protecting others. How does the mask know in which direction it is providing protection?

scoutt 6y ago
I'll stick to the guidelines and assume your message is in good will.... It prevents your spits to reach other's noses and mouths. If all of us wear masks, then no spits flying around = no spread.
mirchibajji 6y ago
From what I understand, it is the size of the droplets. The ones leaving the wearer's mouth are much larger, therefore higher chances of the mask stopping them. The ones that are lingering in the air are smaller, which most face coverings (ie, not proper fitted masks) have lower chances of stopping from entering a wearer's mask.
- jsight 6y ago
  I get that, but mask usage is not 100% for many reasons. Larger droplets hitting the wearers mask from the outside are also possible for many reasons.
  - scoutt 6y ago
    Mask usage is good enough. Even better if every person in the world uses them. Want 100% effectiveness? Then stay at home.
    - jsight 6y ago
      Sorry, I didn't mean that it isn't 100% effective, although that is true too. I meant that not everyone will wear them. The improvement is still >0 in protecting oneself.

mensetmanusman 6y ago

To clarify: There are many different types of masks. Masks in the health care context are designed to protect the wearer. N95 masks block 99.9% of incoming nanoscale particles, but are designed to be easy to breath, so have valves or release-seals on the perimeter so that you can breath out with no resistance. i.e. they are not at all designed to protect others from yourself, but they do help. Cloth masks provide <10% filtration efficacy for breathing in, so they are not appropriate for the industrial/medical arenas. Anything in front of your face helps stop large droplets. Medical people wear eye protection because covid enters through the eyes as well.

scoutt 6y ago
Thanks. Yes, I clarified some points in other answers. My message was intended to be as simple as possible, because a healthcare worker won't be even questioning all these facts after six months of life/death struggle.