Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Masks Work. Really. We’ll Show You How

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 119 posts

Re: Masks Work. Really. We’ll Show You How

#41

Post by ThomPete »

Kaze404 wrote: post #26
DanBC wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be clear: you're saying that we don't see any benefit with rigorous science. We only see the benefit when we drop our standards of evidence.

How are sociological studies any less scientifical? Is the human behavior something not worth studying?

It is but with 70% being non-reproducible we should be careful what we conclude. Humans are not robots. Lots and lots of factors in play.

I have worn mask since march and have no problem with doing so, I believe they help curve some, but scientific rigor not clickbaity politicized headlines on NYT is what is needed here.

Re: Masks Work. Really. We’ll Show You How

#42

Post by freen »

mrob wrote: post #36
blunte wrote: post #22

Anything that in any way reduces the flow of virus particles by definition reduces the spreading of the virus. If a single globule of liquid leaving an infected person's mouth, whether due to a cough, a sneeze, or just a spitty staccato spoken statement, is a transmission opportunity. If a mask catches only one such drop, then it has lowered the risk of transmission. Hell, having all conversations with a pair of unde…

>Anything that in any way reduces the flow of virus particles by definition reduces the spreading of the virus. It does not. It's possible for a filter to break some droplets into smaller droplets that linger in the air for longer. Evidence suggests that masks are still a net benefit, but this is by scientific study, not "by definition".

I haven’t seen any research that indicates this.

Would you mind sharing your source?

Thanks!

Re: Masks Work. Really. We’ll Show You How

#43

Post by alkonaut »

blunte wrote: post #22

Anything that in any way reduces the flow of virus particles by definition reduces the spreading of the virus. If a single globule of liquid leaving an infected person's mouth, whether due to a cough, a sneeze, or just a spitty staccato spoken statement, is a transmission opportunity. If a mask catches only one such drop, then it has lowered the risk of transmission. Hell, having all conversations with a pair of unde…

> Anything that in any way reduces the flow of virus particles by definition reduces the spreading of the virus.

On an individual level yes. On a population level, probably. But studies are few (and difficult, relying on natural experiments).

The important question isn’t whether a mask reduces transmission but how much people change behavior. For example: you really need to go somewhere and the bus looks full. Does people wearing masks on the bus increase the likelihood that you get on it? You don’t want that to happen

Re: Masks Work. Really. We’ll Show You How

#44

Post by christiansakai »

Anecdotal evidence. Why does Japan do better than US? Considering it is more population dense, has more older people, and a frequent train goers.

Japan does not do better compared to other Asian countries like South Korea or Taiwan, because the other Asian countries enact more measurements than Japan other than just masks. Japan pretty much doesn't really care that much about Covid compared to other Asian countries but they always wear masks.

My wife is going to office everyday (Tokyo), she is also going to a wedding party tonight, and also next week. Life is really going pretty much normal right there.

Re: Masks Work. Really. We’ll Show You How

#45

Post by tonetheman »

The way I have explained it to my less scientific friends.

If I shot 100 golf balls at you directly most of them would hit you.

If put a soccer net between us but closer to me the thrower of golf balls some number of those golf balls would not hit you anymore... so you would be hit by less than 100 golf balls.

And even better if there is a soccer net close to me and a second soccer net close to you even less of the 100 golf balls would hit you.

Probably not completely accurate but close enough.

Re: Masks Work. Really. We’ll Show You How

#46

Post by Accacin »

DanBC wrote: post #18

The headline says "masks work", then the article redefines masks to exclude the things that many people are wearing, and then adds further criteria that rules out most other people. It then fails to take into account research that shows that cotton masks become saturated with exhaled moisture and perspiration, and that stops their filtering properties. It also fails to take into account reductions in social distancin…

I'm pretty fed up of people acting so incredibly arrogant. Unless you can show evidence that wearing a mask is dangerous, and makes things worse, then just wear a mask. Stop trying to find reasons to prove everyone wrong.

Some data someone else in the thread posted: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24952278

Re: Masks Work. Really. We’ll Show You How

#47

Post by 40four »

freen wrote: post #42
mrob wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Anything that in any way reduces the flow of virus particles by definition reduces the spreading of the virus. It does not. It's possible for a filter to break some droplets into smaller droplets that linger in the air for longer. Evidence suggests that masks are still a net benefit, but this is by scientific study, not "by definition".

I haven’t seen any research that indicates this. Would you mind sharing your source? Thanks!

They aren’t wrong, the main culprit appears to be the synthetic neck gaiters. But most types of masks have not been shown to do this. So masks aren’t perfect, but are undoubtedly a net benefit.

This link talks about neck gaiters

https://scdhec.gov/news-releases/update-mask-requirement-dat...

Re: Masks Work. Really. We’ll Show You How

#48

Post by crisdux »

40four wrote: post #38

This article has fancy animations and whatnot, but lacking in real data. So for anyone not convinced, here is a statistical analysis from my home state South Carolina. The numbers speak for themselves. https://scdhec.gov/news-releases/dhecs-third-data-analysis-m... https://scdhec.gov/news-releases/update-mask-requirement-dat... Highlights: When comparing the jurisdictions that have mask requirements in place to those…

For anyone convinced in this mask pseudoscience, here is extensive scientific literature over decades that establishes that wearing surgical masks, respirators and cotton masks do not reduce the risk of contracting verified illnesses.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19216002

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/epidemiology-and-inf...

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1750-2659...

https://www.cmaj.ca/content/188/8/567

https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/65/11/1934/4068747

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2749214

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jebm.12381

Re: Masks Work. Really. We’ll Show You How

#50

Post by URfejk »

naavis wrote: post #34
ghthor wrote: post #25

If you want to wear a mask, wear a mask. If you dont, then dont. Stop making me a bad person if I'm not sick at all and I dont wear a mask.

You might not know if you are sick or not, though. There have been many asymptomatic cases.

You don't know if you have flu or not either and yet no one has worn masks when there is a flu season.
Post reply on HN