Hip
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Western medical authorities and the WHO have repeatedly stated that the populace do not need to wear masks or respirators, and that for the general public these offer no protection from coronavirus.
The WHO say:
It's rather annoying when scientists hide behind deceptive statements like that; technically the statement may be correct, there may be no specific evidence; but even a halfwit will tell you that if masks are vitally important for protecting doctors and nurses in a hospital, then they are almost certainly going to be useful when an infected person coughs in your face in a crowded Underground train or bus.
Avoiding mask shortages for frontline medical workers was probably the main reason for making such less than truthful, deceptive statements. They no doubt wanted to prevent panic buying of masks.
But rather than tell white lies, a better option might have been to get industry to make billions masks on an emergency schedule, so that there would be enough for everybody. We could have started this at least two months ago, when containment of Chinese coronavirus epidemic looked like it might be touch and go.
If you think about it, coronavirus only generally transmits if it enters the mouth, nose or eyes, so it's quite extraordinary that with our high-tech and high-output manufacturing capabilities, we have not organized ourselves supply suitable mask protection for the populace that prevents the virus from getting into these areas.
One mathematical modeling study determined that if 80% of the population were to wear masks, this would stop an influenza outbreak in its tracks. That's only a mathematical model, but it's interesting to note that in Hong Kong, which was not that far from the pandemic epicenter but has only had 4 deaths so far (cf: London's 600 deaths), 97.5% of the adult population wears masks when leaving the house. Ref: 1
So it's possible if everyone had a proper mask or respirator and was made to wear it by law, we might be able to halt or dramatically slow this pandemic. But instead we partially close down the entire world economy to control coronavirus spread, at a cost of $trillions.
According to one paper, you don't need expensive respirators: simple surgical masks were just as effective as respirators in preventing influenzavirus transmission in hospitals.
And if you cannot get hold of a surgical mask or respirator, one study found that a mask made from a cotton T-shirt filtered viral particles to some extent, but is not as effectively as a surgical mask (51% filtering efficiency for the T-shirt, versus 89% efficiency for the surgical mask).
Filtration of viral particles is not the only function of a mask though: a mask will also stop you from touching your mouth and nose, which helps prevent viral transmission. And it will stop large droplets that are ballistically ejected from an infected person's mouth (when they are talking or coughing) from directly landing on your mouth and nose. Plus if you yourself are infected, a mask stops you from ballistically ejecting such droplets.
Remember, to halt an epidemic you do not necessarily need 100% foolproof protection; you just have to reduce the transmission so that each infected person on average infects less than 1 other person.
This CNN article comes to the conclusion that:
The WHO say:
Source: here
It's rather annoying when scientists hide behind deceptive statements like that; technically the statement may be correct, there may be no specific evidence; but even a halfwit will tell you that if masks are vitally important for protecting doctors and nurses in a hospital, then they are almost certainly going to be useful when an infected person coughs in your face in a crowded Underground train or bus.
Avoiding mask shortages for frontline medical workers was probably the main reason for making such less than truthful, deceptive statements. They no doubt wanted to prevent panic buying of masks.
But rather than tell white lies, a better option might have been to get industry to make billions masks on an emergency schedule, so that there would be enough for everybody. We could have started this at least two months ago, when containment of Chinese coronavirus epidemic looked like it might be touch and go.
If you think about it, coronavirus only generally transmits if it enters the mouth, nose or eyes, so it's quite extraordinary that with our high-tech and high-output manufacturing capabilities, we have not organized ourselves supply suitable mask protection for the populace that prevents the virus from getting into these areas.
One mathematical modeling study determined that if 80% of the population were to wear masks, this would stop an influenza outbreak in its tracks. That's only a mathematical model, but it's interesting to note that in Hong Kong, which was not that far from the pandemic epicenter but has only had 4 deaths so far (cf: London's 600 deaths), 97.5% of the adult population wears masks when leaving the house. Ref: 1
So it's possible if everyone had a proper mask or respirator and was made to wear it by law, we might be able to halt or dramatically slow this pandemic. But instead we partially close down the entire world economy to control coronavirus spread, at a cost of $trillions.
According to one paper, you don't need expensive respirators: simple surgical masks were just as effective as respirators in preventing influenzavirus transmission in hospitals.
And if you cannot get hold of a surgical mask or respirator, one study found that a mask made from a cotton T-shirt filtered viral particles to some extent, but is not as effectively as a surgical mask (51% filtering efficiency for the T-shirt, versus 89% efficiency for the surgical mask).
Filtration of viral particles is not the only function of a mask though: a mask will also stop you from touching your mouth and nose, which helps prevent viral transmission. And it will stop large droplets that are ballistically ejected from an infected person's mouth (when they are talking or coughing) from directly landing on your mouth and nose. Plus if you yourself are infected, a mask stops you from ballistically ejecting such droplets.
Remember, to halt an epidemic you do not necessarily need 100% foolproof protection; you just have to reduce the transmission so that each infected person on average infects less than 1 other person.
This CNN article comes to the conclusion that:
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