My fiance was on a movie set that got hit bad and had to shutdown twice, she was one of the only people not to catch it, and was in very close contact with infected. She always wears a kn95 mask. I know they aren’t as great but they have kept us both from getting it so far and these newer ones are comfy enough to wear. I’m already heavily disabled and could easily be screwed so we’ve been careful and are grateful to not have to deal with long COVID. I have friends who lost wives and were in thier 30s. Every time I’m about to loosen up I see something like this article and m just gonna keep a stock of em. The limited effectiveness has been enough for us so far
I don’t think that’s true. Face masks, especially the kind designed to filter air, reduce how many particles from the air get into your lungs and airways.
IIRC the studies used to make that argument were using data from respiratory diseases other than covid, which are different in that you only get infected when stuff gets deep in your lungs, which is going to be the very smallest particles that will not end up getting filtered before then by landing on the inside of your throat etc. That might mean that masks are less effective, since they don’t filter the very smallest water droplets quite as well. But it doesn’t apply to covid because with that disease infection isn’t as localized.
There isn’t a practical case for why masks would not make a difference. You block particles containing the virus, you reduce chance of infection.
Edit: Also, here’s a snippet from an article a few clicks away from the OP article:
Epidemiological investigations have helped quantify the benefit of mask wearing to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 (Table; Supplement). At a hair salon in which all staff and clients were required to wear a mask under local ordinance and company policy, 2 symptomatic, infected stylists attended to 139 clients and no infections were observed in the 67 clients who were reached for interviewing and testing. During a COVID-19 outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, persons who wore masks experienced a 70% lower risk of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection.4 Similar reductions have been reported in case contact investigations when contacts were masked5 and in household clusters in which household members were masked.6
You said they “don’t do much”, which isn’t true. The virus might be smaller, but most of the infectious particles are larger than the size of a single virus. Quantity you’re breathing in makes a difference too.
N95 masks have an electrstatic layer that removes particles (such as viruses) that are much smaller than the mask pores. The size of the pores is almost immaterial at that scale.
Also, Covid is an aerosol virus, not droplets. The difference is that droplets are large enough to fall to the ground due to gravity, while aerosols linger in the air like smoke. The idea that it was droplets led to the idea of 6 foot social distancing, which would give the particles time to fall to the ground. But that doesn’t work. You really need filtration, such as masks and/or HEPA filters. UVC light is also showing some promise for killing the virus in the air, but N95’s are tried and true.
This is misinformation. Masks are rated based on 0.3 micron particles because that’s the size that’s hardest to filter. Smaller particles are actually more likely to be filtered due to how they move.
The “N95” classification means respirator filters remove at least 95% of “very small” particles (around 0.3 microns in diameter) from the air, OSHA explains, adding that some people have claimed incorrectly that the virus is about 0.1 microns in size. Further, when the virus becomes airborne via an infected person talking, coughing or sneezing, those particles contain more than the virus – they also include water or mucus. Those larger particles are too big to pass through an N95 respirator filter, while electrostatic charge attracts the particles to the fibers in the filter.
“In addition, the smallest particles constantly move around (called Brownian motion), and are very likely to hit a filter fiber and stick to it,” the agency states.
Doing much to prevent other people getting covid is, in fact, “do[ing] much to prevent getting covid.” The distinction you’re trying to make isn’t meaningful except in the delusions of selfish assholes.
The person said “masks don’t really do much to prevent getting covid”, which is simply false. We’d all be safer if both sides wore masks, but a N95 is an effective method of greatly reducing your individual risk.
You’re not wrong, but n95 is not the mask in the public consciousness. Generally the primary transmission vector is touching your face, eyes, mouth which obviously masks help with, but thinking you’re bulletproof because of a random ebay mask actively hurts.
This sounds like old information from early in the pandemic. COVID is airborne. The primary method of transmission is breathing it in. And all masks help, N95 just help the most.
I do agree that thinking you’re bulletproof with a cloth mask is not a good idea, but this is all straying from the original falsehood. Masks work, both for the wearer and those around them. The better the mask, the better the protection. Though personally I find that N95s breath a lot easier than cloth masks and since they can be reused aren’t much more expensive, so I’d encourage anyone with a cloth mask to just switch to them.
No it’s not. He falsely claimed that “masks don’t really do much to prevent getting covid.” He didn’t say who it would prevent getting it which means he implied it wouldn’t help “anybody,” but in reality the answer to that question is that it would help “the community.”
(And that’s even if we were to accept his premise that masks don’t help the wearer, which is also false BTW.)
Well first off yes, it does help prevent you from getting covid. But also if it prevents people from spreading covid then by extension it also prevents other people from getting covid.
The masks don’t really do much to prevent getting covid. Their main purpose was to stop people from spreading their covid.
My fiance was on a movie set that got hit bad and had to shutdown twice, she was one of the only people not to catch it, and was in very close contact with infected. She always wears a kn95 mask. I know they aren’t as great but they have kept us both from getting it so far and these newer ones are comfy enough to wear. I’m already heavily disabled and could easily be screwed so we’ve been careful and are grateful to not have to deal with long COVID. I have friends who lost wives and were in thier 30s. Every time I’m about to loosen up I see something like this article and m just gonna keep a stock of em. The limited effectiveness has been enough for us so far
Removed by mod
I don’t think that’s true. Face masks, especially the kind designed to filter air, reduce how many particles from the air get into your lungs and airways.
IIRC the studies used to make that argument were using data from respiratory diseases other than covid, which are different in that you only get infected when stuff gets deep in your lungs, which is going to be the very smallest particles that will not end up getting filtered before then by landing on the inside of your throat etc. That might mean that masks are less effective, since they don’t filter the very smallest water droplets quite as well. But it doesn’t apply to covid because with that disease infection isn’t as localized.
There isn’t a practical case for why masks would not make a difference. You block particles containing the virus, you reduce chance of infection.
Edit: Also, here’s a snippet from an article a few clicks away from the OP article:
The virus is smaller than what an N95 can filter. The reason everyone was urged to wear a mask was to stop the spread of the virus.
I didn’t say that masks were completely ineffective at protecting you, just that their main purpose is protecting everyone from you.
You said they “don’t do much”, which isn’t true. The virus might be smaller, but most of the infectious particles are larger than the size of a single virus. Quantity you’re breathing in makes a difference too.
N95 masks have an electrstatic layer that removes particles (such as viruses) that are much smaller than the mask pores. The size of the pores is almost immaterial at that scale.
Also, Covid is an aerosol virus, not droplets. The difference is that droplets are large enough to fall to the ground due to gravity, while aerosols linger in the air like smoke. The idea that it was droplets led to the idea of 6 foot social distancing, which would give the particles time to fall to the ground. But that doesn’t work. You really need filtration, such as masks and/or HEPA filters. UVC light is also showing some promise for killing the virus in the air, but N95’s are tried and true.
This is misinformation. Masks are rated based on 0.3 micron particles because that’s the size that’s hardest to filter. Smaller particles are actually more likely to be filtered due to how they move.
https://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/20459-osha-updates-faqs-to-address-particle-sizes-and-n95s
Doing much to prevent other people getting covid is, in fact, “do[ing] much to prevent getting covid.” The distinction you’re trying to make isn’t meaningful except in the delusions of selfish assholes.
Removed by mod
This is valid downvoters. Masks are for the community, not the wearer. You may get some protection, but that’s not the general goal.
The person said “masks don’t really do much to prevent getting covid”, which is simply false. We’d all be safer if both sides wore masks, but a N95 is an effective method of greatly reducing your individual risk.
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cdc-updates-mask-guidelines-know-n95-kn95-masks-rcna12302
You’re not wrong, but n95 is not the mask in the public consciousness. Generally the primary transmission vector is touching your face, eyes, mouth which obviously masks help with, but thinking you’re bulletproof because of a random ebay mask actively hurts.
This sounds like old information from early in the pandemic. COVID is airborne. The primary method of transmission is breathing it in. And all masks help, N95 just help the most.
I do agree that thinking you’re bulletproof with a cloth mask is not a good idea, but this is all straying from the original falsehood. Masks work, both for the wearer and those around them. The better the mask, the better the protection. Though personally I find that N95s breath a lot easier than cloth masks and since they can be reused aren’t much more expensive, so I’d encourage anyone with a cloth mask to just switch to them.
No it’s not. He falsely claimed that “masks don’t really do much to prevent getting covid.” He didn’t say who it would prevent getting it which means he implied it wouldn’t help “anybody,” but in reality the answer to that question is that it would help “the community.”
(And that’s even if we were to accept his premise that masks don’t help the wearer, which is also false BTW.)
deleted by creator
Well first off yes, it does help prevent you from getting covid. But also if it prevents people from spreading covid then by extension it also prevents other people from getting covid.