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I started wearing a mask pretty early on. The first one was a fabric one my mother in law made as it was still at a time when PPE for healthcare workers was a b

I started wearing a mask pretty early on. The first one was a fabric one my mother in law made as it was still at a time when PPE for healthcare workers was a bigger priority. I kept wearing a mask until the overwhelming majority of people around me had long given up. I believed it was the right thing to do regardless but I'm not sure I'm as optimistic as you regarding their effectiveness.

galdosdi 4y ago
Think back to early 2020. A lot of the serious deaths/damage were not due to covid per se, but due to (1) covid being so novel we didn't know how to treat it very well, eg using ventilators in cases that could have just used O2 tanks (2) covid spreading so fast that it was effectively a denial of service attack against the local hospitals. Both of these factors were improvable even by small measures that don't prevent infection but just reduce the severity or probability, slowing down ("flattening the curve") the pandemic and postponing more of the cases till later when there was more capacity as well as better treatment knowledge. As someone who suffered a lot in 2021 due to an illness that was totally unrelated to covid, but that was only so bad because of insufficient medical care available due to the pandemic (literally, some simple better care and tests earlier on would have definitely caught and resolved it, but getting care during the pandemic was a shitshow), I take this aspect quite seriously. I think covid was best understood as a crisis for the medical system than for individuals (relatively speaking) EDIT: fwiw I'm not even disagreeing with you on anything (yes, on HN, I know), just riffing :)
- VancouverMan 4y ago
ajmurmann 4y ago
I've been wearing masks from early on and only recently stopped wearing them regularly. Now I only wear them when in a crowded situation. I feel how masks were handled was completely botched in many ways. There is the politicization and communication errors. However, I also remain somewhat shocked how we never made any effort to address the biggest, obvious issues with masks to make them more effective. I saw so many studies that showed that a properly fitted mask makes a massive difference in how protective it is compared to other mask types. Where can I get a mask fitted? Never even saw anything about fitting masks other than "it makes a huge difference and we do this for nurses". Clearly much of the air goes around the mask. Sure a little metal piece at the bridge of the nose makes this a little better, but why did nobody seem to work on a proper solution for this? How about a mask with a rubber seal that goes around it? This kind of stuff could have saved thousands of lives, yet we seem to not even have tried. I think the fatality of COVID was just right to create a societal mess. Fatal enough to kill tons of people. But not fatal enough to get everyone on the same page that some sacrifices need to be made to rein it in. At the same time some people also had practically no symptoms, creating more opportunity for disagreement.
- IX-103 4y ago
  I still wear a mask when I go out. I'll probably stop eventually -- probably next summer when it gets hot again. But I definitely agree that mask for should have been a big push. I'm not sure that sealing the gaps around the nose is that much of an issue from a transmissibility perspective, but it can make a significant difference in terms of comfort for those wearing glasses. And masks that are not comfortable don't get worn.
- jrussino 4y ago
  >How about a mask with a rubber seal that goes around it I wore one of these: https://envomask.com/ https://envomask.com/ They're relatively heavy compared to paper & fabric masks (not to mention expensive), but the gel seal made it quite comfortable and it was the only thing I found that I could wear all day without ever fogging up my glasses.
  - ajmurmann 4y ago
    Thank you! These are exactly like what I wanted.

galdosdi 4y ago

Think back to early 2020. A lot of the serious deaths/damage were not due to covid per se, but due to (1) covid being so novel we didn't know how to treat it very well, eg using ventilators in cases that could have just used O2 tanks (2) covid spreading so fast that it was effectively a denial of service attack against the local hospitals. Both of these factors were improvable even by small measures that don't prevent infection but just reduce the severity or probability, slowing down ("flattening the curve") the pandemic and postponing more of the cases till later when there was more capacity as well as better treatment knowledge. As someone who suffered a lot in 2021 due to an illness that was totally unrelated to covid, but that was only so bad because of insufficient medical care available due to the pandemic (literally, some simple better care and tests earlier on would have definitely caught and resolved it, but getting care during the pandemic was a shitshow), I take this aspect quite seriously. I think covid was best understood as a crisis for the medical system than for individuals (relatively speaking) EDIT: fwiw I'm not even disagreeing with you on anything (yes, on HN, I know), just riffing :)

VancouverMan 4y ago

ajmurmann 4y ago

I've been wearing masks from early on and only recently stopped wearing them regularly. Now I only wear them when in a crowded situation. I feel how masks were handled was completely botched in many ways. There is the politicization and communication errors. However, I also remain somewhat shocked how we never made any effort to address the biggest, obvious issues with masks to make them more effective. I saw so many studies that showed that a properly fitted mask makes a massive difference in how protective it is compared to other mask types. Where can I get a mask fitted? Never even saw anything about fitting masks other than "it makes a huge difference and we do this for nurses". Clearly much of the air goes around the mask. Sure a little metal piece at the bridge of the nose makes this a little better, but why did nobody seem to work on a proper solution for this? How about a mask with a rubber seal that goes around it? This kind of stuff could have saved thousands of lives, yet we seem to not even have tried. I think the fatality of COVID was just right to create a societal mess. Fatal enough to kill tons of people. But not fatal enough to get everyone on the same page that some sacrifices need to be made to rein it in. At the same time some people also had practically no symptoms, creating more opportunity for disagreement.

IX-103 4y ago
I still wear a mask when I go out. I'll probably stop eventually -- probably next summer when it gets hot again. But I definitely agree that mask for should have been a big push. I'm not sure that sealing the gaps around the nose is that much of an issue from a transmissibility perspective, but it can make a significant difference in terms of comfort for those wearing glasses. And masks that are not comfortable don't get worn.
jrussino 4y ago
>How about a mask with a rubber seal that goes around it I wore one of these: https://envomask.com/ https://envomask.com/ They're relatively heavy compared to paper & fabric masks (not to mention expensive), but the gel seal made it quite comfortable and it was the only thing I found that I could wear all day without ever fogging up my glasses.
- ajmurmann 4y ago
  Thank you! These are exactly like what I wanted.