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I'm not sure that is correct. In a subsequently FOIA'd email, Fauci told a colleague on February 5, 2020. > Masks are really for infected people to prevent th
by daveevad 4y ago
I'm not sure that is correct. In a subsequently FOIA'd email, Fauci told a colleague on February 5, 2020.
> Masks are really for infected people to prevent them from spreading infection to people who are not infected rather than protecting uninfected people from acquiring infection.
- LordDragonfang 4y agoThat's a well known fact about how masks work in general, yes. They have a large effect on transmission from the wearer and a comparatively small effect in preventing transmission to the wearer. However, when you have a limited supply of masks, it's impossible to give them out to every potentially-infected person, so saving them for high-risk people (like healthcare professionals, who also have the highest risk of becoming infected themselves) is still rational.
- Izkata 4y agoOnly with droplet spread. Once we're in the realm of aerosol spread, as with SARS-CoV-2, you need N95 filters or better to stop them. The virus just goes around or through the cloth masks everyone was wearing.