COVID masks how effective are they

[Valjean]

That would mean 99% of "layman" mask don't work "as much" given poorly fitted and most likely the material used for masks?

Quite correct. They'll stop some droplets, but not much more, and the ones I see under the nose or pouched out at the cheeks or without the metal band bent properly around the nose might not even do that too well.
Still, droplets are a major vector of transmission. Best wear them.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Quite correct. They'll stop some droplets, but not much more, and the ones I see under the nose or pouched out at the cheeks or without the metal band bent properly around the nose might not even do that too well.
Still, droplets are a major vector of transmission. Best wear them.

Better than nothing, I guess.

 

[Thief]

It's the seal that counts. If a beard or unusual facial shape prevents an edge seal with the masks at hand, protection from inhaled/exhaled viral particles is compromised.
When I had a beard, this is what I had to wear in airborne isolation rooms:
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company...1017+8711405+8720539+8720547+3294857497&rt=r3

I have a a similar mask.....minus the air supply
just a filter

it resembles a gas mask of vintage design
modern day materials

but that item requires even more stringent disciplines than everyday stuff you see

 

[Almighty God]

So you think all the medical people are fools, do you, just because you, personally, don't understand how they work? Why not take a moment to try to understand why they say what they say? Here's a link that goes over it: Ask Ethan: What Is The Science Behind Wearing A Mask?

The key thing to bear in mind is the mask is not an airtight fit. It filters a portion of your breath, but just acts as a baffle for the rest of it, which passes upward or downward past the edges of the mask. So what masks do is to greatly reduce the degree to which you project droplets into the space around you, when you exhale. Not only does the mask intercept and trap particles, but it deflects the portion of your breath that it does not intercept upward and downward in slow-moving streams. (If, like me, you wear spectacles, you will aware that wearing a mask steams them up, due to the air being deflected upward onto the lenses.)

These effects reduce the chance of some droplets being inhaled by people around you, unless they are very close to you.

When you inhale, however, you take air in from your immediate vicinity. If there are infected droplets in that air, the mask may intercept some of them but not all, because you will also draw air in from above and below the mask as well.

So if I understand correctly it has to do with the fact that the mask has a more concave fit on the inside portion around the face and a more convex shape on the outside of the face? Fair point. I'd still like to see more studies, though.

 

[Wandering Monk]

 

[Thief]

Myth Busters did a similar demo

14ft.....

 

[exchemist]

So if I understand correctly it has to do with the fact that the mask has a more concave fit on the inside portion around the face and a more convex shape on the outside of the face? Fair point. I'd still like to see more studies, though.

It's not really to do with shape. It is to do with the fact that when you exhale you project a stream of particles into the air around for quite some distance. Anything that traps a lot of them and deflects the rest so that they lose their velocity close to you instead will reduce the risk of you infecting someone.

I'm sure there will be more studies done on this, but it is quite tricky to do, as it is hard to disentangle the effects when it is mask wearing by person A that affects the likelihood of infecting person B, in a population of individuals that is constantly interacting.

(But quite honestly, I am bemused by the extent and the ferocity of argument on this topic in the USA. It's a perfectly simple precaution, involving minimal cost and inconvenience, to set against the fact that a quarter of million Americans have died before their time due to this virus, and a lot more have had life-threatening or life-changing experiences as a result. And it's not as if it is forever: by the summer we can reasonably hope to be out of the woods, thanks to the vaccines - and what we are now learning about long-term immunity in those, like me, who have already had it.)

 

[Almighty God]

It's not really to do with shape. It is to do with the fact that when you exhale you project a stream of particles into the air around for quite some distance. Anything that traps a lot of them and deflects the rest so that they lose their velocity close to you instead will reduce the risk of you infecting someone.

I'm sure there will be more studies done on this, but it is quite tricky to do, as it is hard to disentangle the effects when it is mask wearing by person A that affects the likelihood of infecting person B, in a population of individuals that is constantly interacting.

(But quite honestly, I am bemused by the extent and the ferocity of argument on this topic in the USA. It's a perfectly simple precaution, involving minimal cost and inconvenience, to set against the fact that a quarter of million Americans have died before their time due to this virus, and a lot more have had life-threatening or life-changing experiences as a result. And it's not as if it is forever: by the summer we can reasonably hope to be out of the woods, thanks to the vaccines - and what we are now learning about long-term immunity in those, like me, who have already had it.)

I see, that makes sense.

 

[Martin]

My assessment based on WHO advice is that wearing a mask reduces the risk of transmission, as does keeping distance, washing hands, etc.
My conclusion is that anyone who doesn't follow these basic precautions is a ****ing idiot.

 

[Thief]

My assessment based on WHO advice is that wearing a mask reduces the risk of transmission, as does keeping distance, washing hands, etc.
My conclusion is that anyone who doesn't follow these basic precautions is a ****ing idiot.

I am surrounded by idiots

I know of no one who wears the mask as they should
except of course myself and spouse and children

and I know the drill as I was raised by a registered nurse

 

[Valjean]

I am surrounded by idiots

I know of no one who wears the mask as they should
except of course myself and spouse and children

and I know the drill as I was raised by a registered nurse

What, exactly, are we arguing about here?

 

[Thief]

What, exactly, are we arguing about here?

I think we are on the same page
just different emphasis to the effect the practice has

I don't believe in the mask
I just respond to the mandates

I have a handle on the world of microbes

here's your sign.......take a deep breath
you just inhaled several species that can kill you

the only reason you're not dying.......your immune system is working

this is the everyday.....minute by minute play of life

eventually.....you will lose

 

[exchemist]

I think we are on the same page
just different emphasis to the effect the practice has

I don't believe in the mask
I just respond to the mandates

I have a handle on the world of microbes

here's your sign.......take a deep breath
you just inhaled several species that can kill you

the only reason you're not dying.......your immune system is working

this is the everyday.....minute by minute play of life

eventually.....you will lose

No we're not at all on the same page, because this post of yours shows you have still, in spite of everything, failed to understand that the point of a mask is not to protect you, but to stop you infecting someone else.

You are not entitled to force your personal fatalistic worldview on those around you. It is their wellbeing you are bravely taking risks with.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I think we are on the same page
just different emphasis to the effect the practice has

I don't believe in the mask
I just respond to the mandates

I have a handle on the world of microbes

here's your sign.......take a deep breath
you just inhaled several species that can kill you

the only reason you're not dying.......your immune system is working

this is the everyday.....minute by minute play of life

eventually.....you will lose

This is confusing. You mentioned I know of no one who wears the mask as they should except of course myself and spouse and children.

But then you say you don't believe in masks you just follow the mandates.

Of course our immune system is the first fighter for the disease not masks. Keeping one's hands et cetera clean and social distancing to not spread the germs. Masks-extra precaution. Just curious. Could you clarify?

 

[Thief]

No we're not at all on the same page, because this post of yours shows you have still, in spite of everything, failed to understand that the point of a mask is not to protect you, but to stop you infecting someone else.

You are not entitled to force your personal fatalistic worldview on those around you. It is their wellbeing you are bravely taking risks with.

the little bugger was air borne
from the beginning

it was not introduced as such to avoid mass panic

what?
you forgot how it went in March?
the grocery shelves emptied
the toilet paper disappeared

so too.....freezers
so too.....sewing machines
so too.....9mm bullets

and that was under a president ......trying to keep the courage of the masses
from failing

seems to be failing anyway

 

[Thief]

This is confusing. You mentioned I know of no one who wears the mask as they should except of course myself and spouse and children.

But then you say you don't believe in masks you just follow the mandates.

Of course our immune system is the first fighter for the disease not masks. Keeping one's hands et cetera clean and social distancing to not spread the germs. Masks-extra precaution. Just curious. Could you clarify?

it's a placebo

picture yourself about to use a microphone to address the country
and someone whispers in your ear the news of problem that WILL kill hundreds of thousands of people

what do you say?

how about.....wear a mask

it gives the people some sense of control

but the little bugger is airborne
as you go about .....your presence spreads the item
in the same manner your skin cells sluff off to become the dust in your house
you leave traces of it ....everywhere you go

a sample from your pillow case.....is virtually identical to a sample from your toilet seat

food for thought

 

[Unveiled Artist]

it's a placebo

picture yourself about to use a microphone to address the country
and someone whispers in your ear the news of problem that WILL kill hundreds of thousands of people

what do you say?

how about.....wear a mask

it gives the people some sense of control

but the little bugger is airborne
as you go about .....your presence spreads the item
in the same manner your skin cells sluff off to become the dust in your house
you leave traces of it ....everywhere you go

a sample from your pillow case.....is virtually identical to a sample from your toilet seat

food for thought

Pretty much. People do get defensive when sense of control, fear, and other psychological not just medical reasons why people wear masks. I don't see anything inherently wrong with it. What's your opinion about sense of control and people's survival by this sense of control? Do you think this control has something to do with people's survival (the curve dropping) more than the material face covers themselves?

 

[Wandering Monk]

Control? How about seat belt laws or myriad other laws we submit to every day?

 

[Valjean]

it's a placebo

picture yourself about to use a microphone to address the country
and someone whispers in your ear the news of problem that WILL kill hundreds of thousands of people

what do you say?

how about.....wear a mask

it gives the people some sense of control

but the little bugger is airborne
as you go about .....your presence spreads the item
in the same manner your skin cells sluff off to become the dust in your house
you leave traces of it ....everywhere you go

a sample from your pillow case.....is virtually identical to a sample from your toilet seat

food for thought

The little buggers can be spread by droplets, aerosolized viral particles or from fomites. Most of the transmission
seems to be by droplets. Masks, as I'm seeing them worn, can block most exhaled droplets and stop some from being inhaled as well. Aerosols are more problematic with the low-grade, poorly fitted masks available to the public.
Masks could also help with fomitic transmission by blocking wayward fingers.

A smooth, non porous, easily cleaned toilet seat vs a porous, drooled on, breathed on, lied on pillowcase?
Hardly identical.

 

[Suave]

The world largest test of the effectiveness of using masks have just been completed by a danish research team, with some interesting results.

The test was done on 6000 people, roughly half wearing masks and the other half not. All the participants were to follow the danish government guideline for how to behave during the period. Which means that it must have been done in a period where social distancing where the only guideline at the time.

Of the 3000 that used a mask for a period of 30 days, 1.8% got corona and for those not wearing one, it was 2.1% (roughly 15-20% difference)

Now it is important to point out that the study only looked at how much a mask would help prevent a healthy person getting the virus. And NOT how much a mask helps prevent an infected person from spreading it.

They have examined masks from people with Covid and those masks were filled with the virus on the inside.

So it seems that wearing a standard mask (the blue medical ones) might not do much in regards to protecting oneself, but that it is probably more important for people that are infected to use them to help reduce the spread. Obviously since it might take days to noticed it, it is still recommended for everyone to use them.

I think it makes a lot of sense, that if a lot of people seemingly do not care about using masks, these have little effect in protecting people, so it really requires those idiots that refuse to use them to take some responsibility, as they are ruining it for the rest.

The whole study can be read here:
ACP Journals

Mask up to save lives! Masks save lives: Here’s what you need to know - Harvard Health Blog