4 ms·

The mask is to protect others as much as it is to protect yourself. You can be contagious and spread it for up to two weeks without symptoms. It's unfortunate t

The mask is to protect others as much as it is to protect yourself. You can be contagious and spread it for up to two weeks without symptoms. It's unfortunate that wearing a mask is such a hardship for you.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
vl 5y ago
But how exactly paper ill-fitted masks protect against aerosol-spread virus?
- nkozyra 5y ago
  In an ill fitted mask? Not well. The suspension of the virus in aerosol is precisely why masks have any efficacy in the first place, since the viruses themselves could easily permeate without it.
- shkkmo 5y ago
  By reducing the number of aerosol particles that escape the mask and thus reducing your chances of infecting someone else.
- tasty_freeze 5y ago
  If the standard is zero transmission, then they are useless. But that isn't had has never been the claim. N95 is better than simple masks, but they are more expensive, initially were in short supply, and uncomfortable. But this is all about statistics. Simple masks reduce the chance of catching it by some small amount (say 15%) and reduce the emission of virus particles by something like 50% (it all depends on the mask). This doesn't mean the odds are cut in half; it means the exponent of the spread of the virus is cut in half.
- nvr219 5y ago
  Here you go chief: https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-about-masks-heres-science-behind-how-face-masks-prevent https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-abou...
  - cltby 5y ago
    The disease is significantly (primarily?) spread via aerosol. Against which officially sanctioned masks are a pretty marginal intervention. https://uwaterloo.ca/news/media/study-supports-widespread-use-better-masks-curb-covid-19 https://uwaterloo.ca/news/media/study-supports-widespread-us...
    - craftinator 5y ago
      It's a simple and easy way to reduce chances of spreading it to another person. It diverts airflow from directly forward, changing the distance outward that aerosols from your mouth go. Since, as you point out, this virus is spread via aerosols, this impacts the chances of spreading it, by reducing the contagion radius around you.
      - cltby 5y ago
        Simple and easy and, given the miniscule risks to all but the unvaccinated, completely unreasonable to impose on others.
playguardin 5y ago
This has always been the case. Think of all the lives we could have saved if we had all worn masks the last 50 years. Or better yet if no one ever left home the past 50 years. Good on you for a drastic life change for some low probability theoretical good for "humanity". Me? I'm out and about living life you nerdy bitch!
mrob 5y ago
This has to be the biggest mistake of the whole pandemic. Exhalation valves dramatically improve the comfort of masks. A cloth mask might give 50% protection, and a surgical mask about 75%, but even after you double the effects to account for filtering both on exhalation and inhalation, that's still only 75% (1-(1-.5)^2) and 94% (1-(1-.75)^2), which is worse than the 95% you could expect from a correctly fitted N95 mask with exhalation valve. If you protect yourself then you also protect others, because you can't infect others unless you are infected yourself. This focus on filtering exhaled breath just results in people wearing masks incorrectly to avoid the problems of valveless masks, making the numbers even worse than the previous calculation. It's also much easier to motivate people with self-protection than altruism, especially when the people they're helping often don't reciprocate. We've had more than long enough to solve the production problems by now, so N95 should be the minimum standard.
- craftinator 5y ago
  As former military ( I assume that background is the reason for this), I just cannot understand what the deal is over masks. I can literally forget that I'm wearing a fitted surgical mask. They feel like nothing. What is so damn hard about wearing them? I hear so many grown adults whine and complain and dramatize having to put one on, and it just blows my mind. Maybe I am, unknown to myself, a superhero, and my power is not having a hard time wearing a mask. Or maybe I'm not a spoiled entitled brat. Not sure anymore.
  - helij 5y ago
    Anecdata. I was 15kg heavier last summer than this summer. I had a lot harder time wearing a mask last year than this.
Ekaros 5y ago
My understanding is that masks at least cloth or surgical are vastly more about others than yourself.
spookthesunset 5y ago
Protect who though? Who do masks protect at this point? People who are vaccinated? They have no need to worry. People who are unvaccinated? They made that choice. There is literally no reason for a vaccinated individual to wear a mask. Vaccines work. They are the ticket out of this. Not masks.
- exo-pla-net 5y ago
  You're a one man misinformation army. There is no reason for a vaccinated individual to wear a mask? Look closely at the green lines, and compare them to the red lines: https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america?view=daily-deaths&tab=trend https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america?view... You won't learn anything, because you're a deranged wingnut with a trapped prior. But maybe the cognitive dissonance will be enough to get you to shut up.
  - noptd 5y ago
    >You won't learn anything, because you're a deranged wingnut with a trapped prior. But maybe the cognitive dissonance will be enough to get you to shut up. Stick to attacking the idea instead of the individual. Personal attacks like this cause others to disregard your stance, even when they already disagree with the parent (like I did). It only works against the cause in the end.
Invictus0 5y ago
I can't stand this intimation that you're an asshole for not wearing a mask. If other people want to be precautious, they can get vaccinated and wear a mask and do the social distancing. It's not my problem.
jasonladuke0311 5y ago
I hear this quite often on the internet, yet I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen a person wearing a mask in public pre-COVID. I’m in the US so it is extremely uncommon. Where has all of the concern for the immunocompromised been before this? The flu is quite deadly, you know.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

vl 5y ago

But how exactly paper ill-fitted masks protect against aerosol-spread virus?

nkozyra 5y ago
In an ill fitted mask? Not well. The suspension of the virus in aerosol is precisely why masks have any efficacy in the first place, since the viruses themselves could easily permeate without it.
shkkmo 5y ago
By reducing the number of aerosol particles that escape the mask and thus reducing your chances of infecting someone else.
tasty_freeze 5y ago
If the standard is zero transmission, then they are useless. But that isn't had has never been the claim. N95 is better than simple masks, but they are more expensive, initially were in short supply, and uncomfortable. But this is all about statistics. Simple masks reduce the chance of catching it by some small amount (say 15%) and reduce the emission of virus particles by something like 50% (it all depends on the mask). This doesn't mean the odds are cut in half; it means the exponent of the spread of the virus is cut in half.
nvr219 5y ago
Here you go chief: https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-about-masks-heres-science-behind-how-face-masks-prevent https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-abou...
- cltby 5y ago
  The disease is significantly (primarily?) spread via aerosol. Against which officially sanctioned masks are a pretty marginal intervention. https://uwaterloo.ca/news/media/study-supports-widespread-use-better-masks-curb-covid-19 https://uwaterloo.ca/news/media/study-supports-widespread-us...
  - craftinator 5y ago
    It's a simple and easy way to reduce chances of spreading it to another person. It diverts airflow from directly forward, changing the distance outward that aerosols from your mouth go. Since, as you point out, this virus is spread via aerosols, this impacts the chances of spreading it, by reducing the contagion radius around you.
    - cltby 5y ago
      Simple and easy and, given the miniscule risks to all but the unvaccinated, completely unreasonable to impose on others.

playguardin 5y ago

This has always been the case. Think of all the lives we could have saved if we had all worn masks the last 50 years. Or better yet if no one ever left home the past 50 years. Good on you for a drastic life change for some low probability theoretical good for "humanity". Me? I'm out and about living life you nerdy bitch!

mrob 5y ago

This has to be the biggest mistake of the whole pandemic. Exhalation valves dramatically improve the comfort of masks. A cloth mask might give 50% protection, and a surgical mask about 75%, but even after you double the effects to account for filtering both on exhalation and inhalation, that's still only 75% (1-(1-.5)^2) and 94% (1-(1-.75)^2), which is worse than the 95% you could expect from a correctly fitted N95 mask with exhalation valve. If you protect yourself then you also protect others, because you can't infect others unless you are infected yourself. This focus on filtering exhaled breath just results in people wearing masks incorrectly to avoid the problems of valveless masks, making the numbers even worse than the previous calculation. It's also much easier to motivate people with self-protection than altruism, especially when the people they're helping often don't reciprocate. We've had more than long enough to solve the production problems by now, so N95 should be the minimum standard.

craftinator 5y ago
As former military ( I assume that background is the reason for this), I just cannot understand what the deal is over masks. I can literally forget that I'm wearing a fitted surgical mask. They feel like nothing. What is so damn hard about wearing them? I hear so many grown adults whine and complain and dramatize having to put one on, and it just blows my mind. Maybe I am, unknown to myself, a superhero, and my power is not having a hard time wearing a mask. Or maybe I'm not a spoiled entitled brat. Not sure anymore.
- helij 5y ago
  Anecdata. I was 15kg heavier last summer than this summer. I had a lot harder time wearing a mask last year than this.

Ekaros 5y ago

My understanding is that masks at least cloth or surgical are vastly more about others than yourself.

spookthesunset 5y ago

Protect who though? Who do masks protect at this point? People who are vaccinated? They have no need to worry. People who are unvaccinated? They made that choice. There is literally no reason for a vaccinated individual to wear a mask. Vaccines work. They are the ticket out of this. Not masks.

exo-pla-net 5y ago
You're a one man misinformation army. There is no reason for a vaccinated individual to wear a mask? Look closely at the green lines, and compare them to the red lines: https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america?view=daily-deaths&tab=trend https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america?view... You won't learn anything, because you're a deranged wingnut with a trapped prior. But maybe the cognitive dissonance will be enough to get you to shut up.
- noptd 5y ago
  >You won't learn anything, because you're a deranged wingnut with a trapped prior. But maybe the cognitive dissonance will be enough to get you to shut up. Stick to attacking the idea instead of the individual. Personal attacks like this cause others to disregard your stance, even when they already disagree with the parent (like I did). It only works against the cause in the end.

Invictus0 5y ago

I can't stand this intimation that you're an asshole for not wearing a mask. If other people want to be precautious, they can get vaccinated and wear a mask and do the social distancing. It's not my problem.

jasonladuke0311 5y ago

I hear this quite often on the internet, yet I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen a person wearing a mask in public pre-COVID. I’m in the US so it is extremely uncommon. Where has all of the concern for the immunocompromised been before this? The flu is quite deadly, you know.