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Study: Association between mask mandates and Covid infections in North Dakota

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Re: Study: Association between mask mandates and Covid infections in North Dakota

#31

Post by jvanderbot »

glerk wrote: post #9
AnthonBerg wrote: post #3

We also did not have data on the types of masks being worn or on masking adherence rates in the two school districts It is known that this is an aerosolized pandemic. Airborne. Cloth and surgical masks do not work. Source – there are many to choose from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014067362... The posted study on mandates has effectively no meaning. Closed FFP2/N95-style masks work. This is fa…

This has been known since 2020. From the beginning, the public health message could have been "protect yourself using a N-95 mask", but for some reason they went with "protect others using a cloth/surgical mask". The only reasonable explanation I can find for this is that N-95 masks were in short supply at the time and they had to be saved for medical professionals. We needed a distraction to prevent the general publ…

I thought that "airborne" meant "could survive in water aerosols for long enough to get breathed in" not "sprouted little virus wings and flew through any hole it could fit through"

And I assumed water droplets were in fact several orders of magnitude larger than the virus, but would still be caught my masks. Otherwise what's the point for any virus?

Re: Study: Association between mask mandates and Covid infections in North Dakota

#32

Post by ceejayoz »

happyopossum wrote: post #21
ceejayoz wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Setting aside for a moment the fact that chronic, day-in-day-out long term use of N95s has never been studied for potential ill effects... There are professions that've been doing this for decades without any apparent negative impacts.

Which profession requires constant 8-10hr a day use of an N95 mask?

Some forms of mining, asbestos remediation, industrial work, etc.

They've been used extensively by enough people the burden of proof lies on the folks claiming they're somehow dangerous at this point.

Re: Study: Association between mask mandates and Covid infections in North Dakota

#33

Post by tzs »

AnthonBerg wrote: post #3

We also did not have data on the types of masks being worn or on masking adherence rates in the two school districts It is known that this is an aerosolized pandemic. Airborne. Cloth and surgical masks do not work. Source – there are many to choose from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014067362... The posted study on mandates has effectively no meaning. Closed FFP2/N95-style masks work. This is fa…

That's awfully binary. With SARS-CoV-2 it is a probabilistic thing, where your chances of actually getting an infection depends on how much SARS-CoV-2 you are exposed to and for how long.

Even a cloth or surgical mask does lower that probability. Not enough that it is likely to make a difference if you are going to be exposed for a long time, such as spending hours in room with infected people like might happen at school.

But if you are say going to just do say a quick trip to the grocery store and you only have a surgical mask available, wearing it will lower your chances of getting COVID at the grocery store compared to going maskless.

Some sources: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abg6296 , https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7106e1.htm .

Re: Study: Association between mask mandates and Covid infections in North Dakota

#35

Post by collegeburner »

IAmGraydon wrote: post #27
indymike wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Maybe I’ve gotten cynical, but I was worried that there would be limited retrospection about positions taken during the pandemic given the political sensitivities. Hopefully we learn from our mistakes and are better prepared for the next pandemic.

Monkeypox is now at 10,000 cases worldwide with a growth rate of 12% per day and we're seeing the same lagged response as we did with Covid. We've learned nothing.

It is almost entirely in populations of men who have sex with many male partners in western countries. It is much easier to reduce number of partners and be monogamous for a while (basically removes risk of monkeypox) than lock down everything (needed to remove most risk of covid).

Re: Study: Association between mask mandates and Covid infections in North Dakota

#36

Post by ceejayoz »

MuchoMaas wrote: post #19
philliphaydon wrote: post #14

Doesn’t seem like a very ground study. But living in Asia has taught me masks do work, and they work at school. My 3yo doesn’t get a cold when the 1 kid in the class is sneezing and coughing. The 1 case of covid didn’t spread in the school to Teachers or students. But I get there’s a bunch of adults who can’t wear masks as well as a 3yo so in that case the adults are more likely to catch or spread covid with their in…

That's nice. My kids' preschool in a blue state which mandated masks until spring of this year had constantly recurring COVID cases and exposures, including a Delta infection my kids brought home in October last year and passed to me.

A preschool is... not the best-case scenario for proper mask wearing technique.

Re: Study: Association between mask mandates and Covid infections in North Dakota

#37

Post by bobkazamakis »

LewisVerstappen wrote: post #7
edmcnulty101 wrote: post #2

It's not necessarily because masks don't work, medical professionals use them to great success. Mask usage at the community level does not follow the same strict policies related to mask usage that medical professionals do, like discarding them between operations. Wearing the same mask over and over every day and removing it when you sit down to eat is a very ineffective policy. And it's kind of an abuse of power for…

Teachers unions in the US are absurdly powerful unfortunately.

No post body was provided.

Re: Study: Association between mask mandates and Covid infections in North Dakota

#38

Post by bad416f1f5a2 »

HKH2 wrote: post #28
ISL wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe that you are entirely correct. One of the big lessons-learned is that the response should have been: "N95s work. They are very important. If you hoard them, healthcare professionals will die. Please donate your extras to your nearest hospital." I saw firsthand, working with findthemasks.com, just how many people came to that conclusion on their own and rapidly aggregated and donated as many N95s as they cou…

How long can you wear an N95?

Not sure how to parse the question; answering both ways.

How long can a person wear one? The few times I work in office I wear one all day, and don’t find it difficult.

How long can a single N95 be reused? I’d read research indicating the real limiting factor seems to be the quality of the seal, and the straps tend to fail before the mask loses efficacy. Basically, if it seals without air escape, you’re good.

Re: Study: Association between mask mandates and Covid infections in North Dakota

#39

Post by ClumsyPilot »

throwoutway wrote: post #6
AnthonBerg wrote: post #3

We also did not have data on the types of masks being worn or on masking adherence rates in the two school districts It is known that this is an aerosolized pandemic. Airborne. Cloth and surgical masks do not work. Source – there are many to choose from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014067362... The posted study on mandates has effectively no meaning. Closed FFP2/N95-style masks work. This is fa…

> Closed FFP2/N95-style masks work. Schools are not going to mandate this, and even if they do kids will wear them loose/wrong. So knowing that, where do school boards go from here?

ventillation, air purifiers and upper-room UV sterilisation are all cheap and practical solutions that shoukd be installed in every public building.

the fact thats uts still nit obvious, 2 years on us absurd

Re: Study: Association between mask mandates and Covid infections in North Dakota

#40

Post by amluto »

collegeburner wrote: post #35
IAmGraydon wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Monkeypox is now at 10,000 cases worldwide with a growth rate of 12% per day and we're seeing the same lagged response as we did with Covid. We've learned nothing.

It is almost entirely in populations of men who have sex with many male partners in western countries. It is much easier to reduce number of partners and be monogamous for a while (basically removes risk of monkeypox) than lock down everything (needed to remove most risk of covid).

Is it? I can’t find much real data, and, at least in the US, monkeypox surveillance appears to be at least as poor as COVID surveillance early in the pandemic.
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