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Masks4All: Wear a mask to stop the spread of Coronavirus (Jeremy Howard)

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Re: Masks4All: Wear a mask to stop the spread of Coronavirus (Jeremy Howard)

#61

Post by Symmetry »

IgorPartola wrote: post #20
TheSoftwareGuy wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's stupid. N95 masks are in short supply and so should be reserved for healthcare workers and those caring for the infected but sugical masks can still help slow the spread. People should be weraring those in public. But the only messaging from the top is not to wear the masks

There seems to be evidence that masks can make your exposure worse by trapping some amount of air containing the virus under the mask, making you more exposed. If you are sick they can protect others around you, but if you are healthy, less so. In that context the flip of public opinion makes some sense: as we go from assuming most people are healthy to assuming most people are sick, masks for everyone in public can…

That's the first time I've heard about that theory about why wearing masks could be dangerous. Do you have a citation for that? I'd be very curious to read the study. Intuitively it seems like there's no way you could end up with a higher time integrated density of virions inside the mask than outside unless you put on the mask in a very contaminated area and then wore it into non-contaminated place. But maybe there's some mechanism I'm not thinking of?

Re: Masks4All: Wear a mask to stop the spread of Coronavirus (Jeremy Howard)

#62

Post by JoeAltmaier »

stronglikedan wrote: post #53
analog31 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>> ...and I'm giving them a wide berth. Another reason to wear a mask.

Non-medical masks don't keep stuff out. They just keep stuff in, so the only reason to wear it is to not spread your water droplets when you sneeze or cough. Medical masks keep stuff out, but are in short supply. I think I'm helping more by going with the recommendations and not wearing a mask. Some people feel better wearing them, and that's fine too.

I'm not so good with spreading my own potential risk around. It's essentially selfish to not wear a mask because 'it can't help me'.

Further, just yesterday on HN, there was a post about how a University study of airplane travelers showed mask-wearers got both benefits - they rarely caught anything and rarely infected anyone, even with the simplest masks.

Re: Masks4All: Wear a mask to stop the spread of Coronavirus (Jeremy Howard)

#63

Post by ethagknight »

ardy42 wrote: post #29
a9h74j wrote: post #21

Per Chris Martenson[1], three reasons for every person to wear a mask: - Stops infected people [including asymptomatic] from expelling infectious particles. - Helps remind you not to touch your face [and precludes direct touch to mouth and nose--where mucus membranes are vulnerable]. - Much better chance of a low inoculum [a smaller initial viral load results in less severe symptoms]. [1] https://youtu.be/i6Gy9nPAQE0…

> Helps remind you not to touch your face [and precludes direct touch to mouth and nose--where mucus membranes are vulnerable]. I like these instructional videos about how to put masks on and take them off, because they emphasize that you should be washing your hands when you put the masks on and take them off. How to Put on a Surgical Mask: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWnTCZWYOBw N95 3M mask: How to Wear & Remov…

If the virus is present on your mask, it most likely would have already been in your body without the mask.

NNTaleb: Asymmetry: error FROM NOT wearing masks is vastly costlier than the error FROM wearing masks.

https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1244976894686179328?s=21

EDIT- I think I wasn’t clear— mask is critical protection, and the risk of infection from wearing one incorrectly is far lower than not having one at all. I was just responding to the final paragraph that the mask doesn’t do much good if transferred from mask to mouth during removal— very true, but it also reduces the quantity of the virus ingested.

Re: Masks4All: Wear a mask to stop the spread of Coronavirus (Jeremy Howard)

#64

Post by pmoriarty »

saturday14 wrote: post #14
ardy42 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I wonder if this will lead to people in the west wearing surgical masks during flu season like people do in Asia. Normalizing masks will also help fight facial recognition. IIRC, the Chinese systems have trouble with people who are wearing a surgical mask and sunglasses. No attention-grabbing dazzle makeup required.

Until the government bans masks in public places in the interest of, you know "public safety" once the covid-19 crisis blows over. It sucks that we even need to think about wearing masks to escape facial recognition.

"Until the government bans masks in public places in the interest of, you know "public safety""

The government did this long ago, as a reaction to the KKK wearing masks to intimidate their victims and hide their identity.

So it's actually already against the law to wear masks in public in many places in the US.

I've never heard of this law being enforced in modern times, however.

Re: Masks4All: Wear a mask to stop the spread of Coronavirus (Jeremy Howard)

#65

Post by oasisbob »

Aunche wrote: post #18
nyxtom wrote: post #3

US Surgeon General continues to recommend against this for some reason

If they recommended it, people would definitely hoard them. There isn't even a shortage of toilet paper, but people still hoard it.

In some parts of the US like NW Washington, toilet paper is in short enough supply that some households need to put non-trivial time and effort to get some.

It's hyper local. I got lucky and hit Costco in December. Feel like I still see it in stores sometime, but people need to shop around.

Acetaminophen is trickier now.

Re: Masks4All: Wear a mask to stop the spread of Coronavirus (Jeremy Howard)

#66

Post by anon102010 »

stronglikedan wrote: post #57
dumbfounder wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but the messaging is not consistent which leads to public distrust, which might actually be worse. Don't wear masks, they don't help! But we need them because they do actually help! It's obviously not that simple but that's the way it's being perceived.

> which leads to public distrust Maybe a minority, as there will always be, but I think most people are aware of the difference between medical and non-medical masks, and feel the messaging is consistent.

Definitely not - instead of emphasizing production the US has had this horrible no mask message - likely resulting in deaths

Re: Masks4All: Wear a mask to stop the spread of Coronavirus (Jeremy Howard)

#67

Post by anandoza »

stronglikedan wrote: post #53
analog31 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>> ...and I'm giving them a wide berth. Another reason to wear a mask.

Non-medical masks don't keep stuff out. They just keep stuff in, so the only reason to wear it is to not spread your water droplets when you sneeze or cough. Medical masks keep stuff out, but are in short supply. I think I'm helping more by going with the recommendations and not wearing a mask. Some people feel better wearing them, and that's fine too.

I think you might have misunderstood the parent comment (since your reply is somewhat of a non sequitur). My interpretation was that "if I wear a mask, then people will assume I'm infected and give me space, which is actually just better for me regardless of the mask's direct efficacy".

Re: Masks4All: Wear a mask to stop the spread of Coronavirus (Jeremy Howard)

#68

Post by anon102010 »

stronglikedan wrote: post #53
analog31 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>> ...and I'm giving them a wide berth. Another reason to wear a mask.

Non-medical masks don't keep stuff out. They just keep stuff in, so the only reason to wear it is to not spread your water droplets when you sneeze or cough. Medical masks keep stuff out, but are in short supply. I think I'm helping more by going with the recommendations and not wearing a mask. Some people feel better wearing them, and that's fine too.

False - hand to nose mouth contact is THE primary vector for this illness - masks are very effective in reducing this. Please stop spreading misinformation as it could lead to deaths.

Re: Masks4All: Wear a mask to stop the spread of Coronavirus (Jeremy Howard)

#69

Post by pmoriarty »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #16

Just, please please please make sure they're home-made masks. If you have any professionally-created surgical masks, you should donate them to healthcare workers, who need them much more than you. I live in Manhattan, and I still see people walking around outside with "real" masks.

"I live in Manhattan, and I still see people walking around outside with "real" masks."

Some people bought their masks long before the mask shortage, and hospitals don't accept donations of used masks.

Re: Masks4All: Wear a mask to stop the spread of Coronavirus (Jeremy Howard)

#70

Post by graposaymaname »

Quoting from the WHO/emergencies website[1]

> If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-nCoV infection.

The World Health Organization still recommends that you wear masks only if you're taking care of someone with COVID-19. Why is it so?

Like if the evidence is so clear, why aren't they advising the general public about this? (PS. non-native english speaker, ignore poor english)

[1]https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2...

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