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Masks could save 130k American lives from COVID19 by March

directorsblog.nih.gov

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Re: Masks could save 130k American lives from COVID19 by March

#41

Post by mathgorges »

bot41 wrote: post #15
polote wrote: post #12

I can't buy it, European citizens almost all have to wear masks and we can clearly see that this measure alone doesn't seem to have an impact on the epidemic as the speed of the increase of cases is more or less the same that what we had in march. And nobody was wearing masks at that time.

That is a good point which is worth discussing. From an opposite point of view Czech Republic mandated masks early on which seemed to work. Now they are in a bad state which is being blamed on relaxing the restrictions they had in place.

This is interesting.

Hypothesis: Wearing a mask is a physical reminder that we're in a pandemic, which helps folks remember to do other things which reduce their risk (avoid touching things unnecessarily, wash hands more often, staying at home unless necessary, etc)

Re: Masks could save 130k American lives from COVID19 by March

#42

Post by goldcd »

ezekg wrote: post #31
goldcd wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm unsure why you wouldn't consider wearing a mask to "be the right thing" I don't think anybody is saying that masks are a panacea - that would be "everybody stay home until we have a working vaccine". However, they seem a completely sensible thing that you can do that reduces transmission (so some extent at least), whilst allowing you to go about your normal life relatively unimpeded. A bit like speed limits on th…

There are other ways. I encourage you to research The Great Barrington Declaration.

I just did. Seems 'fine' - more lenient that I'd go, but I'd agree that interminable lock-down of low-risk people is a bad idea. But we don't have that. Doesn't mention masks at all.

Re: Masks could save 130k American lives from COVID19 by March

#43

Post by ezekg »

mindslight wrote: post #32
norwegianwhale wrote: post #19

It's actually very annoying to wear a mask. Also, I don't want to be thinking 24/7 about the virus, and the mask reminds me of it. I can't count how many hours I have personally wasted thinking about the virus this year. That surely must go into the bottom line of prevention measures.

There are striking differences in infection rates between countries. If you think masks are not effective, then go find out what is effective and argue for the merits of that instead of just lazily spreading FUD about currently accepted best practices. (At some point we need to start viewing these types of comments as likely coming from Anti-American disinformation farms.)

Sweden. No lockdowns, no mask edicts, real herd-immunity.

Re: Masks could save 130k American lives from COVID19 by March

#44

Post by herp23 »

norwegianwhale wrote: post #19

It's actually very annoying to wear a mask. Also, I don't want to be thinking 24/7 about the virus, and the mask reminds me of it. I can't count how many hours I have personally wasted thinking about the virus this year. That surely must go into the bottom line of prevention measures.

This is an exceptionally silly perspective to have. You feel entitled to put others in danger because you don't like being reminded of reality.

Edit: Pick your favorite example by using the following: "It's actually very annoying to [trivial activity]. I don't want to be thinking 24/7 about the [dangerous, potentially fatal thing], and the [benign preventative measure] reminds me of it". I think my favorite would be "It's actually very annoying to drive in a single lane on the road. I don't want to be thinking 24/7 about other cars on the road hitting me, and the lines on the road reminds me of it".

Re: Masks could save 130k American lives from COVID19 by March

#45

Post by herp23 »

nradov wrote: post #17
fbonetti wrote: post #11

[deleted]

Surely if I wear the sacred garment and perform the correct cleansing rituals the coronavirus will reward my piety by sparing my life.

This is a nonsensical comparison to wearing a mask and washing your hands during a global pandemic.

Re: Masks could save 130k American lives from COVID19 by March

#46

Post by ezekg »

theplague42 wrote: post #33
ssully wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What government has threatened violence in regards to mask mandates?

I guess anything that is fined or outlaws is eventually "enforced by violence" but it's still a silly argument. If a store asks you to leave, and you don't, and the store calls the police to arrest you, you aren't being arrested for not wearing a mask. You're being arrested for not leaving when asked.

Do you really think the businesses are enforcing masks for the sake of public health? I encourage you to ask them -- 9 times out of 10 they will say they are fearful of the government fining them and shutting down their business. Trust me, I ask them every time they ask me to leave and it's always the same answer. If they resist the government, it will eventually result in violence.

Re: Masks could save 130k American lives from COVID19 by March

#47

Post by imglorp »

ransom1538 wrote: post #30

If you are going to wear a mask get a p100 [0]. Removes 99.97% of all particles that are 0.3 microns in diameter or larger. The lame part is covid is: 0.06 microns to .14 microns [1]. In theory though covid will be attached to a larger particle. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/topics/respirators/disp_part... https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/11/fac...

Be aware many of those masks in the CDC list have one-way valves that cause exhalations to be unfiltered.

If the wearer is infectious, it doesn't protect people they encounter.

Re: Masks could save 130k American lives from COVID19 by March

#48

Post by mindslight »

ezekg wrote: post #43
mindslight wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are striking differences in infection rates between countries. If you think masks are not effective, then go find out what is effective and argue for the merits of that instead of just lazily spreading FUD about currently accepted best practices. (At some point we need to start viewing these types of comments as likely coming from Anti-American disinformation farms.)

Sweden. No lockdowns, no mask edicts, real herd-immunity.

A quick search says that Sweden still has a growing number of new covid cases. So no, it does not look like they have achieved herd immunity.

Re: Masks could save 130k American lives from COVID19 by March

#50

Post by latch »

fbonetti wrote: post #11

[deleted]

An article written by an expert in biology and disease and the director of the National Institutes of Health, which summarizes an a article that was published in a peer-reviewed medical journal and written by another accomplished medical doctor, isn't scientific enough for you.

Why? Because Sweden didn't mandate masks. First, Sweden had more deaths per capital than most countries. Second, even if it had very good numbers, that would not mean that masks aren't effective.

Masks save lives (1) (2) (3) (4)

(1) https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-abou...

(2) https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02801-8

(3) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-72798-7

(4) https://directorsblog.nih.gov/author/collinsfs/

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