NOBODY KNOWS IF THEY ARE SICK.

At least not for more than half a week after inoculation.

you should assume you are infected. Same with everyone you meet. If we all wore the masks, we would be safer.

even if they only helped their patients.


a more accurate statement would be that masks are more effective in protecting others than in protecting the wearer, and also that wearing a mask isn't absolute immunity, it merely reduces the likelihood of spreading covid-19.

and you can spread it long before you are symptomatic. That is why. I am actually stunned to see anyone angry over what health care workers are doing at this point. Do you think they are being selfish?

being lied to. I completely understand that the first responders need the masks first.

I don't want to infect anyone and I don't want to be infected. I have been wearing a surgical type mask for a couple weeks now because I have asthma and Covid 19 scares the shit out of me so I was wearing one when some in authority were saying it was not protecting me from any potential virus threat out there. And to that I say a hearty, "Bullshit"

Plus, the shortage of masks.

I don't think they are really lying to us.

Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining.

But at first they wanted to save masks for health card workers and first responders. Which is understandable.

So because they lied they can’t admit they lied so now it’s “well it’s because it won’t help you but it might maybe possibly help someone else.”.

Up here yesterday CTV had a headline “FOOD PRODUCTION DOWN!!!” followed up with, “but don’t panic and hoard.”.

I would rather hear, “we don’t know. We just don’t know” then some bullshit.

They said, with the surgeon general's support, that they didn' know that asymptomatic, positive carriers could spread the virus.

All credibility shot.

People were told to wash hands (which is well and good) but how is that going to fully protect you against respiratory virus? Obviously it won't.

previous decisions make sense. They dumb the facts down in order to meet Trump's comfort zone. He is using his power to take down people who contradict him, and listen to him talk to the media, trying to direct them how to ask a question, saying something positive about his accomplishments before asking the question they really want to ask.

Plenty of people don't know how to use masks... but health care workers do. They could also say that a stethoscope won't help you determine whether you have pneumonia... but the same tool in the ears of a trained professional is of much greater effect.

It's because the point was to discourage us from buying face masks to compete with the hospitals and medical workers.

Just like telling people "don't touch your face" is REALLY simple... yet it didn't keep many of the people reading that rule from touching their faces... training and practice make a huge difference.

Common sense tells you that in a population where some people are infected and others are not, that it would be helpful if some or all people wore a mask. I'm not going to question the motivation of first responders when they want to have and use masks by assuming that they just want to protect themselves.

A home-made cloth mask is supposed to keep you from being a vector of the contagion if you're already infected. Health care workers need (as in "must have" ) medical grade masks that will make them getting infected less likely. You're not being lied to, you aren't getting all the information. The information is out there. Why it isn't getting through to you is a question I can't answer.

We are getting half the truth. I've heard doctors asked point-blank about the contradiction of masks protecting others but not the wearer and they side-step it and talk about the shortage of masks for medical professionals.

I think what people want to know is the physics of a mask that protects people six feet away from the wearer, but not the person wearing the mask from people six feet away. That would sure be a dumb mask to mass-produce for medical professionals.

This morning I gave a mask to my sister for her doctor's appointment tomorrow for a matter unrelated to COVID-19. She worked as a physician's assistant, so she knows a lot of this, but I just told her to read the fitting instructions and restrain herself from adjusting the mask, and to keep doing all the things she's been doing like washing her hands frequently, social distancing--and not to take the mask for granted as it certainly doesn't guarantee you can't get infected. She has rheumatoid arthritis and is at some risk of developing complications if she contracts this virus.

A mask optimizes one's chances, and since nobody in our government is looking out for us, our health is our personal responsibility. It's possible that wearing a mask means one less person calling 911, occupying an ICU, taking up a precious ventilator. IMO that's just being a good (and intelligent) citizen and trying not to become part of the problem of overfilled hospitals.

Early on I earnestly repeated some of those lies here, such as "the only benefit of wearing a mask is that it stops you from touching your face." We've heard a few lies now. Just reflecting for even a few seconds, and looking a the relative success of other countries where mask-wearing was required, should be enough to raise questions.

But good luck being able to buy one. Cotton masks and even surgical masks are far less effective in preventing particles from getting in.
But that said, if everybody is wearing mask, that has to offer at least some protection for everybody, because at least they will cough into their mask and not into their hands and spread it around.

The CDC is recommending a cloth mask for most of us. This type is for inhibiting the wearer's droplets from spreading.

Health care workers are recommended to have the fancier N95 masks. While the N95 mask will stop the wearer's droplets from spreading (just like the cloth mask) it adds a better level of protection from letting in other people's droplets.

I'll take my bandana across my face for now and let the healthcare workers have the N95 masks.

-Laelth

Even then they don't protect against the more insidious aerosolized virus. Look at their infection rate.

It's all about lowering the R-naught value. Governments are getting desperate so any low-cost options to lower it even slightly with no real downside is going to be on the table. They weren't as desperate before so the language has shifted.