Comment on Face masks made ‘little to no difference’ in preventing spread of COVID: study

• airrow@hilariouschaos.com ⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Ok, so are you making the point that when people talk, they can spit everywhere, so obviously then masks would reduce this? Off topic but this is kind of funny, I was already thinking about masking around car and industrial fumes when in cities before “covid”… unfortunately I feel masks wrongly became politicized (not by our side) and instead of just recommend them and allow people to make adult decisions about them, they were tyrannically imposed upon people, confusing people if they were beneficial or not. But anyway, I think I might frame it in a different way: say I have a super infectious disease, like the plague. Would you feel comfortable simply being around someone with plague with a mask on? Wouldn’t quarantine be much safer? So why not just have us advocate for this much safer option of keeping people instead of 6 feet apart, 600 feet apart (lol)?

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  • Anticorp@lemmy.world ⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Unfortunately an N95 mask wouldn’t be effective for fumes, you would need a vapor mask for that. N95 and similar masks are particulate masks, they filter particles out of the air before it reaches your lungs. Yes, people produce aerosoled particulate when they breathe and talk. The viruses are very small and travel on our breath which can be inhaled by others. Watch someone vaping for example, or smoking. That’s how much air people are circulating through their lungs when they breathe, you just can’t see it.

    Of course I’d rather not be exposed to you if you have the plague, but if I had to be around you, I’d want both of us wearing the best masks on the market. Complete isolation would have been great, and it would have stopped the pandemic from developing. Unfortunately that’s not realistic for the majority of people. Even if you stayed at home and ordered your groceries to be delivered, someone still has to go to a warehouse, get their truck, go to the grocery store, buy your food, and bring it to you. They’re going to be exposed to other people who also have to do things along the way. A mask provides an additional layer of security.

    You saw yourself why voluntary mask usage isn’t adequate. Some people will never do anything they’re told to do. Some people are malicious. Some politicians wanted to make a health crisis into a political demonstration. There’s a bunch of reasons why it required guidelines. People shouldn’t need to be forced to do a lot of things that are for their good and the good of society, but unfortunately that’s not the reality we live in.

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    • airrow@hilariouschaos.com ⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Thanks for the info about the masks; yeah, well we are circling towards some productive discussion. Perhaps some posts could be made prepping for wildfire smoke again for those affected by it and about the masks that would enable people to be outside more (I don’t support a mandate there really but you can taste the smoke in your lungs if you’ve been in those kinds of areas)…

      Well I guess with the grocery delivery guy, they could be expected to clean everything as they deliver it. This is probably also worth thinking about because probably pandemics (or faking them) will likely “happen” again.

      Ehhh, I don’t think people need to be forced. They can be “free” to become sick (or not, as most people are still alive). Those who don’t want to risk things should be accommodated to isolate from the people willing to risk exposure. I feel like this situation should mostly be able to be “win-win”: maskers mask among maskers, unmasked associate among unmasked.

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      • Anticorp@lemmy.world ⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        The problem with your logic is that masks are more effective when the sick people wear them, and most effective when both people wear them. So if I have to be somewhere, and you have to be at the same place, me not wearing a mask despite being sick puts you at risk. If it was 100% effective when only the wearer wore the mask then there wouldn’t be an issue. Put yourself at all the risk you want. But when you put other people at risk and refuse to take simple and easy steps to prevent it, then you’ve shown that you’re not empathetic, caring, or smart enough to make your own decisions. It’s the same reason why you can’t drive 150 miles per hour through a residential neighborhood, even if you think the fun of it is worth the risk.

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