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"Since there are indications that wearing masks does give you some protection and does give significant protection to those around you..." This is precisely wh

"Since there are indications that wearing masks does give you some protection and does give significant protection to those around you..." This is precisely what I'm trying to find evidence of. So far, I've clicked through to one summary of the research, followed by three papers linked in there, which supposedly support the claim, and found that there is almost no support for those claims. And as I already said above, I do wear one. Edited to add: Also, I've been reading more and more articles questioning the claim that Coronavirus is mostly limited to the larger droplets.

jakeogh 6y ago
"There is no benefit and there may even be negative impact." https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8583925/The-land-no-face-masks-Hollands-scientists-say-theres-no-solid-evidence-coverings-work.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8583925/The-land-no... Not remotely surprising. The fake masks are basically dirty sponges stuck in the most important air stream. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24045096 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24045096
roel_v 6y ago
You're right, from an evidence-based medicine perspective there is little to no proof that masks work, and some indication that they are counter-productive. There are plenty of people posting links with dozens of papers claiming to prove that they do work, but very few if any of those people seem to have actually read anything on those lists, as none of them claim what the people posting the links claim they claim. (note that I'm not claiming here people should or should not wear them, this is a position-neutral meta observation). That said, at this point wearing/'believing in' face masks is a political issue, not an evidence based rational choice. It's tribal signaling. Noboby really knows a or b, but choosing to believe a or b has become (yet another) aspect of identity politics. Which is what worries me the most, because now that position has become entrenched, regardless of whether we reach any conclusive findings at some point in the future.

jakeogh 6y ago

"There is no benefit and there may even be negative impact." https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8583925/The-land-no-face-masks-Hollands-scientists-say-theres-no-solid-evidence-coverings-work.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8583925/The-land-no... Not remotely surprising. The fake masks are basically dirty sponges stuck in the most important air stream. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24045096 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24045096

roel_v 6y ago

You're right, from an evidence-based medicine perspective there is little to no proof that masks work, and some indication that they are counter-productive. There are plenty of people posting links with dozens of papers claiming to prove that they do work, but very few if any of those people seem to have actually read anything on those lists, as none of them claim what the people posting the links claim they claim. (note that I'm not claiming here people should or should not wear them, this is a position-neutral meta observation). That said, at this point wearing/'believing in' face masks is a political issue, not an evidence based rational choice. It's tribal signaling. Noboby really knows a or b, but choosing to believe a or b has become (yet another) aspect of identity politics. Which is what worries me the most, because now that position has become entrenched, regardless of whether we reach any conclusive findings at some point in the future.