3 ms·

I know how well I can adhere. That's all that matters. That other people act like children does not change the reality that well fit N95 mask and good hand hygi

I know how well I can adhere. That's all that matters. That other people act like children does not change the reality that well fit N95 mask and good hand hygiene works. You should not base your decisions off meta study based on false premises (ie, most don't actually mask up properly). The article headline should be, "Can the majority of people act more responsibly re: infectious diseases than a kindergartner?" and the answer is no. And that only encourages me to keep it up.

taeric 4y ago
As a criticism of this meta study, I think this is fair. As a criticism of the idea for knowing the efficacy of masks, this is shortsighted. More, comparing the majority of folks to kindergartners is... not helpful. I trust you have managed to avoid getting sick period for your entire non-kindergartner life? Do you know how much "better" you would have had to have been to do so?
- superkuh 4y ago
  That's correct. I still have not been infected with sars-cov-2 three years into the pandemic. I haven't tested for the N protein immune reactivity in my blood or anything, but I have been extremely careful about exposure and rapid test regularly. It's the same for my local family which also mask properly with N95. It is very possible to not get infected and infect others. So yeah, I will call people who refuse to wear masks kindergarteners having hissy fits.
  - taeric 4y ago
    I am on your side for the folks that refuse to wear masks. I am a bit less on that side for folks that have actual grade school ages in the family. Note that we are a family of 6 and didn't test positive until a few months ago. That said, I did test negative for antibodies 6 months after whatever started the pandemic. And whatever I had back then was far far worse than what had us testing positive this go around. I can only assume that the vaccines do as desired, and that is what helped. Which is all to say, patience and a bit more empathy goes a long way. I don't want to accept that we will all get it, that said, with how contagious this is, either you are also very good at isolation, or you are running a very real non-negative risk even with masking. Is a bit like driving. It can be done safely, of course, but the more you drive, the more you raise your risk. And at that point, it is more of a numbers game than is often comfortable to think about.
    - superkuh 4y ago
      The risk to self for people that have children is certainly so high from the kids that wearing a mask in public doesn't really shift it one way or the other. But the other side of this coin is that if the parents don't wear masks in public spaces their risk to others is actually higher than a random person without kids because their children are so likely to get them infected. So I understand the reasoning. But it's selfish and incomparably more rude than I am being. And it doesn't have any releavance to weather masks (and hand hygine) work or not.
      - taeric 4y ago
        If you are contagious, you are best staying home and not going out. Pretty much period. As such, if you have reason to think that you could give someone covid, stay home. Hopefully we have reached a point where folks are ok doing this when they are sick later in life. (I certainly hope we encourage folks to stay home when sick from now on.) With the major caveat that we don't afford that luxury to the vast majority of workers out there. Instead we seem to push a narrative that if the worker does the right precautions, they can return to work with no risk in getting others sick. Which, just doesn't seem to pan out.
        superkuh 4y ago
        The majority of sars-cov-2 infections are asymptomatic and they always have been. Additionally it's significantly transmissive for days before symptoms happen when they do happen.
        taeric 4y ago
        Down this path lies "always where a mask." Which I doubt even you are advocating for? For hand washing, I'm comfortable with that. For the mask? Princess Bride quotes not withstanding, I don't see it happening. And to be clear, for some things, where the cost of the preventative measure is essentially zero, I'm fine with this. Driving a car? You have to buckle up. Riding a bus? Things change. And that last is an important point. Nuance in policy is more than just "is there a risk" but also "does the mitigation of the risk encourage worse behavior?" If requiring seat belts on busses reduced capacity of busses and reduced ridership on said bus, with a corresponding increase in cars, that would be a bad decision. Now, does that directly apply to masks? I don't think so, but I do think a ton of the energy that was being directed at masking would be amazing to reclaim if it doesn't work at the society level.
  - ccn0p 4y ago
    If N95 masks have worked so well for you, why walk around angry at everyone else for choosing not to wear them? You're in for a long life of anger and resentment.

taeric 4y ago

As a criticism of this meta study, I think this is fair. As a criticism of the idea for knowing the efficacy of masks, this is shortsighted. More, comparing the majority of folks to kindergartners is... not helpful. I trust you have managed to avoid getting sick period for your entire non-kindergartner life? Do you know how much "better" you would have had to have been to do so?

superkuh 4y ago
That's correct. I still have not been infected with sars-cov-2 three years into the pandemic. I haven't tested for the N protein immune reactivity in my blood or anything, but I have been extremely careful about exposure and rapid test regularly. It's the same for my local family which also mask properly with N95. It is very possible to not get infected and infect others. So yeah, I will call people who refuse to wear masks kindergarteners having hissy fits.
- taeric 4y ago
  I am on your side for the folks that refuse to wear masks. I am a bit less on that side for folks that have actual grade school ages in the family. Note that we are a family of 6 and didn't test positive until a few months ago. That said, I did test negative for antibodies 6 months after whatever started the pandemic. And whatever I had back then was far far worse than what had us testing positive this go around. I can only assume that the vaccines do as desired, and that is what helped. Which is all to say, patience and a bit more empathy goes a long way. I don't want to accept that we will all get it, that said, with how contagious this is, either you are also very good at isolation, or you are running a very real non-negative risk even with masking. Is a bit like driving. It can be done safely, of course, but the more you drive, the more you raise your risk. And at that point, it is more of a numbers game than is often comfortable to think about.
  - superkuh 4y ago
    The risk to self for people that have children is certainly so high from the kids that wearing a mask in public doesn't really shift it one way or the other. But the other side of this coin is that if the parents don't wear masks in public spaces their risk to others is actually higher than a random person without kids because their children are so likely to get them infected. So I understand the reasoning. But it's selfish and incomparably more rude than I am being. And it doesn't have any releavance to weather masks (and hand hygine) work or not.
    - taeric 4y ago
      If you are contagious, you are best staying home and not going out. Pretty much period. As such, if you have reason to think that you could give someone covid, stay home. Hopefully we have reached a point where folks are ok doing this when they are sick later in life. (I certainly hope we encourage folks to stay home when sick from now on.) With the major caveat that we don't afford that luxury to the vast majority of workers out there. Instead we seem to push a narrative that if the worker does the right precautions, they can return to work with no risk in getting others sick. Which, just doesn't seem to pan out.
      - superkuh 4y ago
        The majority of sars-cov-2 infections are asymptomatic and they always have been. Additionally it's significantly transmissive for days before symptoms happen when they do happen.
        taeric 4y ago
        Down this path lies "always where a mask." Which I doubt even you are advocating for? For hand washing, I'm comfortable with that. For the mask? Princess Bride quotes not withstanding, I don't see it happening. And to be clear, for some things, where the cost of the preventative measure is essentially zero, I'm fine with this. Driving a car? You have to buckle up. Riding a bus? Things change. And that last is an important point. Nuance in policy is more than just "is there a risk" but also "does the mitigation of the risk encourage worse behavior?" If requiring seat belts on busses reduced capacity of busses and reduced ridership on said bus, with a corresponding increase in cars, that would be a bad decision. Now, does that directly apply to masks? I don't think so, but I do think a ton of the energy that was being directed at masking would be amazing to reclaim if it doesn't work at the society level.
- ccn0p 4y ago
  If N95 masks have worked so well for you, why walk around angry at everyone else for choosing not to wear them? You're in for a long life of anger and resentment.