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Masks work. If everyone is wearing a mask, there are at least two masks between you and an infected person. Masks don't provide 100% protection, but nothing d

Masks work. If everyone is wearing a mask, there are at least two masks between you and an infected person. Masks don't provide 100% protection, but nothing does. However, masks are important, because they enable people to safely perform essential activities like grocery shopping, and most jobs. We don't need to stop _every single transmission_, all that we need to do is make sure that each infected person doesn't infect more than one person on average. If each infected person infects two people, for example, that's a chain reaction of spread where everybody eventually gets the virus. However, if each person has a 50-50 chance of infecting somebody else, than over time infections will go down, and Covid will eventually be gone. Wearing a cloth mask is not difficult, and is a very tiny tradeoff in favor of a significant decrease in transmission chance. https://tomaspueyo.medium.com/coronavirus-the-swiss-cheese-strategy-d6332b5939de https://tomaspueyo.medium.com/coronavirus-the-swiss-cheese-s... https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-mask/art-20485449 https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/i...

WhiskeyVictor 6y ago
The data tells a different story. https://rationalground.com/post-thanksgiving-mask-charts-still-no-evidence-that-masks-work/ https://rationalground.com/post-thanksgiving-mask-charts-sti...
- yibg 6y ago
  Isn't mask compliance an important metric here that's not shown? Having a mandate doesn't really do much if people don't actually comply with it.
- spurgu 6y ago
  What isn't shown in this graph is how the numbers would look without mask mandates.
- WhiskeyVictor 6y ago
  Compliance is the fifth chart down, and about 2/3 of the way down is a graph of new daily cases per million between mandated mask locations and those without any mandate.
- johnfn 6y ago
  Well, I live in CA and the CA graph is missing a number of critical marks, including the point right before the spike where CA dialed back a number of regulations, allowed indoor dining, etc. Missing such important information - the specific information that goes against the page's agenda - calls the entire thing into question. What else is it intentionally not showing?
- throwaway2245 6y ago
  The data at this link has less than nothing to say about mask effectiveness. One graph says, for example, that mask mandate areas in the US have slightly higher infection rates than non-mask mandate areas. But this is extremely expected - high infection rate is what prompts areas to mandate mask usage. If I feel at risk (maybe because I observe people getting ill and dying), I comply. If I don't feel at risk, I don't care about complying. Also, why no Asian countries on the international charts? That would be inconvenient for the point, hm?
  - worker767424 6y ago
    > Also, why no Asian countries on the international charts? Have you seen the news out of South Korea and Japan this week?
    - throwaway2245 6y ago
      Do you mean South Korea and Japan where cumulative death rates per capita are now 1/60th and 1/40th of the US's equivalent figure? What news are you talking about, specifically?
      - worker767424 6y ago
        Their new case rates have risen to the point that they've lost control of the spread with current measures, so their current level of masking isn't enough.
        throwaway2245 6y ago
        > they've lost control of the spread with current measures They are reporting this as "lost control" even though their spread continues to be lower than any Western country has had since mid-March? That tells a lot.
- beeforpork 6y ago
  Obviously even simple cloth masks help: notice how they get wet when you wear them? That moisture is your exhaled water droplets, the carriers of virusses, that don't end up in other people's faces! Also, do you think surgeons wear masks for fashion reasons? The mask discussion is absurd. A totally minor inconvenience vs. decreased virus exhaling, how can this be a topic for discussion?
matz1 6y ago
>Masks don't provide 100% protection, So 1% protection ? >but nothing does. However, masks are important, because they enable people to safely perform essential activities like grocery shopping, and most jobs. fortunately that the chance of getting sick from covid from doing those activities without mask are very very low. infection is not useful metric because only small percentage actually cause sickness. Masks: The Science & The Myths : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RaBLKKXJt4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RaBLKKXJt4
- yibg 6y ago
  how much protection would be enough for you to wear one? 50%? 75%? Hell, even 1% is higher than 0 and really, what's the harm? Yea most people don't get very sick, except for the 300k that are dead just in the US.
  - worker767424 6y ago
    > and really, what's the harm? If people think a mask offers them more protection than it really does, they might engage in riskier behavior. When I see people out walking around the neighborhood with masks on, I really wonder what they're trying to accomplish. You're not going to get covid walking outdoors passing within 6 feet of someone for 5 seconds. These days, my theory is more people get infected at home than out in public.
    - yibg 6y ago
      Judgement is important of course. I wear masks around people but not when I’m driving or outdoors by myself. I think for a lot of people, it’s just easier not to put it on and take it off. For me for instance if I’m out hiking I just put it on and leave it on. Where as my partner will remove it when there is no one around and put it back on when someone is coming close by. I see the same thing with people driving short distances. People getting infected at home may be a large vector, but the virus got in the home some how in the first place. It’s just easier to spread from that point onwards once it’s in.
    - EB-Barrington 6y ago
EB-Barrington 6y ago
The recent Danish study was the very first randomized controlled trial involving face masks and COVID-19 that reported (so far), and concluded: "the plausible effect of the mask intervention ranged all the way from a 46% decrease in infection to a 23% increase" https://www.factcheck.org/2020/11/danish-study-doesnt-prove-masks-dont-work-against-the-coronavirus/ https://www.factcheck.org/2020/11/danish-study-doesnt-prove-...

WhiskeyVictor 6y ago

The data tells a different story. https://rationalground.com/post-thanksgiving-mask-charts-still-no-evidence-that-masks-work/ https://rationalground.com/post-thanksgiving-mask-charts-sti...

yibg 6y ago
Isn't mask compliance an important metric here that's not shown? Having a mandate doesn't really do much if people don't actually comply with it.
spurgu 6y ago
What isn't shown in this graph is how the numbers would look without mask mandates.
WhiskeyVictor 6y ago
Compliance is the fifth chart down, and about 2/3 of the way down is a graph of new daily cases per million between mandated mask locations and those without any mandate.
johnfn 6y ago
Well, I live in CA and the CA graph is missing a number of critical marks, including the point right before the spike where CA dialed back a number of regulations, allowed indoor dining, etc. Missing such important information - the specific information that goes against the page's agenda - calls the entire thing into question. What else is it intentionally not showing?
throwaway2245 6y ago
The data at this link has less than nothing to say about mask effectiveness. One graph says, for example, that mask mandate areas in the US have slightly higher infection rates than non-mask mandate areas. But this is extremely expected - high infection rate is what prompts areas to mandate mask usage. If I feel at risk (maybe because I observe people getting ill and dying), I comply. If I don't feel at risk, I don't care about complying. Also, why no Asian countries on the international charts? That would be inconvenient for the point, hm?
- worker767424 6y ago
  > Also, why no Asian countries on the international charts? Have you seen the news out of South Korea and Japan this week?
  - throwaway2245 6y ago
    Do you mean South Korea and Japan where cumulative death rates per capita are now 1/60th and 1/40th of the US's equivalent figure? What news are you talking about, specifically?
    - worker767424 6y ago
      Their new case rates have risen to the point that they've lost control of the spread with current measures, so their current level of masking isn't enough.
      - throwaway2245 6y ago
        > they've lost control of the spread with current measures They are reporting this as "lost control" even though their spread continues to be lower than any Western country has had since mid-March? That tells a lot.
beeforpork 6y ago
Obviously even simple cloth masks help: notice how they get wet when you wear them? That moisture is your exhaled water droplets, the carriers of virusses, that don't end up in other people's faces! Also, do you think surgeons wear masks for fashion reasons? The mask discussion is absurd. A totally minor inconvenience vs. decreased virus exhaling, how can this be a topic for discussion?

matz1 6y ago

>Masks don't provide 100% protection, So 1% protection ? >but nothing does. However, masks are important, because they enable people to safely perform essential activities like grocery shopping, and most jobs. fortunately that the chance of getting sick from covid from doing those activities without mask are very very low. infection is not useful metric because only small percentage actually cause sickness. Masks: The Science & The Myths : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RaBLKKXJt4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RaBLKKXJt4

yibg 6y ago
how much protection would be enough for you to wear one? 50%? 75%? Hell, even 1% is higher than 0 and really, what's the harm? Yea most people don't get very sick, except for the 300k that are dead just in the US.
- worker767424 6y ago
  > and really, what's the harm? If people think a mask offers them more protection than it really does, they might engage in riskier behavior. When I see people out walking around the neighborhood with masks on, I really wonder what they're trying to accomplish. You're not going to get covid walking outdoors passing within 6 feet of someone for 5 seconds. These days, my theory is more people get infected at home than out in public.
  - yibg 6y ago
    Judgement is important of course. I wear masks around people but not when I’m driving or outdoors by myself. I think for a lot of people, it’s just easier not to put it on and take it off. For me for instance if I’m out hiking I just put it on and leave it on. Where as my partner will remove it when there is no one around and put it back on when someone is coming close by. I see the same thing with people driving short distances. People getting infected at home may be a large vector, but the virus got in the home some how in the first place. It’s just easier to spread from that point onwards once it’s in.
  - EB-Barrington 6y ago

EB-Barrington 6y ago

The recent Danish study was the very first randomized controlled trial involving face masks and COVID-19 that reported (so far), and concluded: "the plausible effect of the mask intervention ranged all the way from a 46% decrease in infection to a 23% increase" https://www.factcheck.org/2020/11/danish-study-doesnt-prove-masks-dont-work-against-the-coronavirus/ https://www.factcheck.org/2020/11/danish-study-doesnt-prove-...