4 ms·

Welp, this seems as good a place as any to have this debate.... Why is that so bad? If I protect myself, I protect you by proxy. I can't infect you if I'm not

by dTal 6y ago

Welp, this seems as good a place as any to have this debate.... Why is that so bad? If I protect myself, I protect you by proxy. I can't infect you if I'm not infected. And a proper valved, sealed, FFP3 mask gives a really high level of protection, while a valveless N95 is moisture-saturated and useless in a matter of hours, and a simple face covering is no protection at all in enclosed spaces, in either direction.

red0point 6y ago
This is only good as long as you can guarantee that you're not infected. Remember, you're potentially infectious a few days before your first symptoms even develop, if they even develop. This is why valves are not useful and not accepted. If your mask gets moisture-saturated, just replace it.
- dTal 6y ago
  >This is only good as long as you can guarantee that you're not infected Why? All of these measures are probabilistic. P(infect others) = P(infected) * P(transmission) Simple masks don't have much impact on P(infected), but substantially reduce P(transmission) under some circumstances. Valved FFP3 don't have much impact on P(transmission) [not zero], but vastly reduce P(infected) in virtually all circumstances. It's not clear to me even under this simplistic analysis that it is not superior. And in an enclosed space, the effect of simple masks on P(transmission) is almost wiped out. >If your mask gets moisture-saturated, just replace it. New mask every 2 hours?
  - red0point 6y ago
    A lower transmission probability is always a good thing, no matter what your probability of being infected is. In a public space there is simply no way of efficiently knowing and verifying everybodies P(infected), thus the only remaining measure is to reduce P(transmission). And yes, if that‘s the time it takes for your mask to get wet, then it is time to replace it.
oseityphelysiol 6y ago
This does not protect you from exhaling droplets on surfaces, which in turn could be touched by others and infect at a later time by rubbing their faces or other things.
- netizen-9748 6y ago
  The risk of this is extremely unlikely, especially with a face covering providing some mitigation. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30561-2/fulltext https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3...
blacksqr 6y ago
It's good to protect yourself, but the chief reason covid-19 is particularly deadly is that people are contagious for a relatively long time before showing any symptoms. Mitigation measures should target what makes a disease particularly deadly and neutralize it, in order to be effective.

by dTal 6y ago

red0point 6y ago

This is only good as long as you can guarantee that you're not infected. Remember, you're potentially infectious a few days before your first symptoms even develop, if they even develop. This is why valves are not useful and not accepted. If your mask gets moisture-saturated, just replace it.

dTal 6y ago
>This is only good as long as you can guarantee that you're not infected Why? All of these measures are probabilistic. P(infect others) = P(infected) * P(transmission) Simple masks don't have much impact on P(infected), but substantially reduce P(transmission) under some circumstances. Valved FFP3 don't have much impact on P(transmission) [not zero], but vastly reduce P(infected) in virtually all circumstances. It's not clear to me even under this simplistic analysis that it is not superior. And in an enclosed space, the effect of simple masks on P(transmission) is almost wiped out. >If your mask gets moisture-saturated, just replace it. New mask every 2 hours?
- red0point 6y ago
  A lower transmission probability is always a good thing, no matter what your probability of being infected is. In a public space there is simply no way of efficiently knowing and verifying everybodies P(infected), thus the only remaining measure is to reduce P(transmission). And yes, if that‘s the time it takes for your mask to get wet, then it is time to replace it.

oseityphelysiol 6y ago

This does not protect you from exhaling droplets on surfaces, which in turn could be touched by others and infect at a later time by rubbing their faces or other things.

netizen-9748 6y ago
The risk of this is extremely unlikely, especially with a face covering providing some mitigation. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30561-2/fulltext https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3...

blacksqr 6y ago

It's good to protect yourself, but the chief reason covid-19 is particularly deadly is that people are contagious for a relatively long time before showing any symptoms. Mitigation measures should target what makes a disease particularly deadly and neutralize it, in order to be effective.