3 ms·

> there wasn't an adequate supply of masks for 330M people So make your own mask. Lots of people did, and there were loads of instructables. Sure, an N95 is b

> there wasn't an adequate supply of masks for 330M people So make your own mask. Lots of people did, and there were loads of instructables. Sure, an N95 is better than a surgical mask, which is better than a homemade mask, which is better than a scarf or bank-robber bandana. I wore a mask to protect others, not myself. I'm not confident that a mask protects me from the effusions of others; but I'm pretty confident that wearing a mask reduces my own effusions.

wrycoder 4y ago
If you can blow visible smoke through the mask, then it’s ineffective against SARS2. In either direction. If you remove an N95 in a smokey environment, you’ll immediately smell the smoke, while you didn’t before you removed it. Exception: if someone is close enough to hit you with droplets when they speak (a foot or so), then a procedure mask is better than nothing.
- denton-scratch 4y ago
  well, I'm a heavy smoker; I'm not troubled by other people's smoke, and I usually don't wear a mask while smoking :-) The last time I "gave up" smoking, I said to the doctor that I was expecting to get less winter colds. She said I was completely wrong, and that I should expect to get everything that was going around; that tobacco smokers maintain a lung environment that is hostile to anything living, including microbes, and that quitters can expect to catch everything that's going. I have no idea whether that was true. But I'm still standing - yeah, yeah, yeah.
  - TurkishPoptart 4y ago
    Wow...I'd never heard such before.
    - 20after4 4y ago
      I saw a few studies that seemed to point to evidence that smoking reduces the risk of contracting COVID. It was too late as I already quit smoking thinking that the opposite would be true. I haven't started smoking again, despite the potential health benefits associated with smoking.
      - denton-scratch 4y ago
        No, no, no. I'm not saying that there are health benefits from smoking! I have known asthmatics that told me that smoking tobacco relieved their symptoms. But please don't take these remarks as advice to take up (or maintain) smoking! My comments were supposed to be taken as ironic.
        20after4 4y ago
        I was totally being sarcastic about the health benefits of smoking. There rightfully might be some health benefits but they almost certainly are outweighed by the heart disease and cancer risks.

wrycoder 4y ago

If you can blow visible smoke through the mask, then it’s ineffective against SARS2. In either direction. If you remove an N95 in a smokey environment, you’ll immediately smell the smoke, while you didn’t before you removed it. Exception: if someone is close enough to hit you with droplets when they speak (a foot or so), then a procedure mask is better than nothing.

denton-scratch 4y ago
well, I'm a heavy smoker; I'm not troubled by other people's smoke, and I usually don't wear a mask while smoking :-) The last time I "gave up" smoking, I said to the doctor that I was expecting to get less winter colds. She said I was completely wrong, and that I should expect to get everything that was going around; that tobacco smokers maintain a lung environment that is hostile to anything living, including microbes, and that quitters can expect to catch everything that's going. I have no idea whether that was true. But I'm still standing - yeah, yeah, yeah.
- TurkishPoptart 4y ago
  Wow...I'd never heard such before.
  - 20after4 4y ago
    I saw a few studies that seemed to point to evidence that smoking reduces the risk of contracting COVID. It was too late as I already quit smoking thinking that the opposite would be true. I haven't started smoking again, despite the potential health benefits associated with smoking.
    - denton-scratch 4y ago
      No, no, no. I'm not saying that there are health benefits from smoking! I have known asthmatics that told me that smoking tobacco relieved their symptoms. But please don't take these remarks as advice to take up (or maintain) smoking! My comments were supposed to be taken as ironic.
      - 20after4 4y ago
        I was totally being sarcastic about the health benefits of smoking. There rightfully might be some health benefits but they almost certainly are outweighed by the heart disease and cancer risks.