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> Horwitz believes that mask-wearing may be helping by reducing the initial dose of virus a person receives, thereby lessening the overall severity of illness f

> Horwitz believes that mask-wearing may be helping by reducing the initial dose of virus a person receives, thereby lessening the overall severity of illness for many patients. Now if only we could drill this lesson into everyone's head.

christiansakai 6y ago
The Prophet's Dilemma
chrisco255 6y ago
Except this is happening in countries and states with no mask wearing. So your null hypothesis is shot.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- andybak 6y ago
  Do you have a source for that? The article seems to disagree and I'd be interested to see some concrete data.
- eitland 6y ago
  As I write this the post I reply to is downvoted, but it seems to be true in Norway were there's hardly a mask to be seen outside of the big cities. Full disclosure: An alternative explanation here in Norway seems to be that the second wave mostly hits younger people. Edit: there's a dead comment saying "citation needed". As for the "hardly a mask to be seen" that is my eyewitness account based on what I see in shops and gas stations I visit as well as reading and watching the news. The numbers of deaths / infections can be derived from here: https://www.vg.no/spesial/2020/corona/?utm_source=corona-widget&utm_term=d7#norway https://www.vg.no/spesial/2020/corona/?utm_source=corona-wid...
  - NikolaeVarius 6y ago
    Citation needed
- NikolaeVarius 6y ago
  Citation needed
- oefrha 6y ago
  Point to me a single country or state "with no mask wearing". There are sane people (and believe it or not, a lot of them) everywhere, even where politicians are insane.
  - notankies 6y ago
    Uhh, famously, Sweden? Where have you been?
    - oefrha 6y ago
      As I said, politicians asking people not to wear masks != no people wearing masks. And here's a Reuters report from two months ago saying mask sales soared, picturing at least one person wearing mask: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-sweden-facemasks/face-mask-sales-soar-as-swedes-eye-potential-guideline-change-idUSKBN25R22Q https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-sweden...
      - ynfnehf 6y ago
        According to YouGov the latest numbers are 9% wearing masks when in public, it has become a bit higher lately (was 7% just a couple of weeks ago). But I think 9% is far too high. I very rarely encounter a mask while taking a walk in the city closest to where I live. Although that might be due to those wearing masks not being as active in public. https://today.yougov.com/topics/international/articles-reports/2020/03/17/personal-measures-taken-avoid-covid-19 https://today.yougov.com/topics/international/articles-repor...
        netsharc 6y ago
        I'm pro mask, but I don't get wearing a mask if someone is just walking outside with no one around them. It's not like the whole world turned to Pripyat next to Chernobyl...
        phobosanomaly 6y ago
Shivetya 6y ago
tl;dr nursing homes need special care during this event and it has been shown that doing so does reduce infection rates if not deaths As to present numbers... Well we stopped forcing nursing homes from accepting sick people during the event and not exposing those most at risk does tend to result in fewer deaths. A lot of deaths could have been avoided if we went out of way to not expose those most at risk but some states actually did the exact opposite.
kalaido 6y ago
Years of studying pointed in different directions. Now all of a sudden they work. Same with vaccinations - if you shortcut the process the acceptance rate will drop significantly
- kenjackson 6y ago
  Years of studying what?
  - hammock 6y ago
    They meant masks
LudwigNagasena 6y ago
You mean the heads of the US health officials who advised not to wear masks at the start of the pandemic because they don’t help? Yeah, I wonder why people distrust them now...
tinus_hn 6y ago
It may or may not, the effect is the same in countries where nobody wears masks.

christiansakai 6y ago

The Prophet's Dilemma

chrisco255 6y ago

Except this is happening in countries and states with no mask wearing. So your null hypothesis is shot.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
andybak 6y ago
Do you have a source for that? The article seems to disagree and I'd be interested to see some concrete data.
eitland 6y ago
As I write this the post I reply to is downvoted, but it seems to be true in Norway were there's hardly a mask to be seen outside of the big cities. Full disclosure: An alternative explanation here in Norway seems to be that the second wave mostly hits younger people. Edit: there's a dead comment saying "citation needed". As for the "hardly a mask to be seen" that is my eyewitness account based on what I see in shops and gas stations I visit as well as reading and watching the news. The numbers of deaths / infections can be derived from here: https://www.vg.no/spesial/2020/corona/?utm_source=corona-widget&utm_term=d7#norway https://www.vg.no/spesial/2020/corona/?utm_source=corona-wid...
- NikolaeVarius 6y ago
  Citation needed
NikolaeVarius 6y ago
Citation needed
oefrha 6y ago
Point to me a single country or state "with no mask wearing". There are sane people (and believe it or not, a lot of them) everywhere, even where politicians are insane.
- notankies 6y ago
  Uhh, famously, Sweden? Where have you been?
  - oefrha 6y ago
    As I said, politicians asking people not to wear masks != no people wearing masks. And here's a Reuters report from two months ago saying mask sales soared, picturing at least one person wearing mask: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-sweden-facemasks/face-mask-sales-soar-as-swedes-eye-potential-guideline-change-idUSKBN25R22Q https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-sweden...
    - ynfnehf 6y ago
      According to YouGov the latest numbers are 9% wearing masks when in public, it has become a bit higher lately (was 7% just a couple of weeks ago). But I think 9% is far too high. I very rarely encounter a mask while taking a walk in the city closest to where I live. Although that might be due to those wearing masks not being as active in public. https://today.yougov.com/topics/international/articles-reports/2020/03/17/personal-measures-taken-avoid-covid-19 https://today.yougov.com/topics/international/articles-repor...
      - netsharc 6y ago
        I'm pro mask, but I don't get wearing a mask if someone is just walking outside with no one around them. It's not like the whole world turned to Pripyat next to Chernobyl...
        phobosanomaly 6y ago

Shivetya 6y ago

tl;dr nursing homes need special care during this event and it has been shown that doing so does reduce infection rates if not deaths As to present numbers... Well we stopped forcing nursing homes from accepting sick people during the event and not exposing those most at risk does tend to result in fewer deaths. A lot of deaths could have been avoided if we went out of way to not expose those most at risk but some states actually did the exact opposite.

kalaido 6y ago

Years of studying pointed in different directions. Now all of a sudden they work. Same with vaccinations - if you shortcut the process the acceptance rate will drop significantly

kenjackson 6y ago
Years of studying what?
- hammock 6y ago
  They meant masks

LudwigNagasena 6y ago

You mean the heads of the US health officials who advised not to wear masks at the start of the pandemic because they don’t help? Yeah, I wonder why people distrust them now...

tinus_hn 6y ago

It may or may not, the effect is the same in countries where nobody wears masks.