The New England Journal of Medicine says that wearing them outside medical facilities offers little protection.
18 thoughts on “The Latest On Masks”
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The New England Journal of Medicine says that wearing them outside medical facilities offers little protection.
Comments are closed.
I guess this means, despite the masks, Antifa will now be wiped out by Covid19?
The editorial says that masks offer minimum protection, if you don’t get close to people (social distancing), and thus don’t have a need for the protection. If you do (such as medical professionals and a mob of protestors not observing social distancing, for example), then the cost/benefit “calculus” changes.
I was being satirical, but, in all seriousness, these are points that bother me about the whole mask thing. In a medical context (familiar from aspects of my past career), masks, gloves, gown and cap are worn by doctors and nurses in certain circumstances primarily to protect the patient from them, not the other way round. The idea of the mask is so the surgeon doesn’t sneeze into the patient’s abdominal cavity, or some such. In some countries (e.g., Japan) you wear a mask when you’re sick to protect others, not yourself. Non-respirator masks are only a quick interdiction barrier. That’s why you can still smell the flowers when you have them on. The precautions at my GP are so ridiculously stringent, I’m tempted to show up in my toxic vapor respirator…
Footnote: At Duke Cancer Center I used to see medical staff wearing hazmat suits when the patient was poisonous or radioactive (from aggressive treatment, of course). In other medical contexts, there can be deadly infectious patients, as well.
As a public service, we should remind Antifa to maintain social distancing and wear proper PPE. The slogan should be: “Remember, RIOT RESPONSIBLY!”
I don’t understand. I painted my teeth with “Marvelite” to whiten them up and now my damn cell phone crashes every time I try to take a selfie! WTH?
IIRC, the abstract said masks work but only if used right and that they are part of other actions taken. It was arguing against masks because they don’t think people can use them right and that it reduces the supply of masks for the “right” people.
Where I live, we have seen a large spike in cases over the last two weeks. Why that is, is impossible to tease out from the numbers because the public is given so little information.
Masks are like condoms in the sense that they only sort of work if you use them right. So I guess if you’re not using a condom right, you should leave them for people who really need them?
Footnote: I found out the hard way that some otherwise intelligent young ladies will prep their happy place with mineral oil. Why, I don’t know, but it does dissolve latex.
Footnote: I found out the hard way that some otherwise intelligent young ladies will prep their happy place with mineral oil.
Probably so they could handle your monster unit, you stallion!
One of my exes kept a tube of KY in the fridge, which did said unit no good at all. I kept an eye peeled to make sure it never wound up on my toast…
Gotta love these old dudes who wander around an Aldi supermarket wearing a mask with a valve on it.
That is like a . . . OK, you get the idea, and keep it clean, friends, because Rand’s fine salon should stay family friendly.
The valves you see in some masks are one-way, and only open on exhale. Their purpose is to prevent breath moisture from accummulating under the mask. So you gotta love that the old dudes wandering around Aldi know more about masks than you do. Although shopping at Aldi suggests that may be all they know.
Yes, masks aren’t perfect but they also aren’t useless. They are a low cost and low effort risk mitigation tactic.
There is a lot of misinformation floating around and even on space nerd sites, people are not looking at things critically.
It is also clear that masks serve symbolic roles. Masks are not only tools, they are also talismans that may help increase health care workers’ perceived sense of safety, well-being, and trust in their hospitals.
Oh please, spare me. We don’t need more rattles, magic wands and placebos. It’s a freaking virus. It is ubiquitous at this point. Like other corona viruses it’s going to have a hard time this summer in higher humidity and increased outdoor UV. I’m worried more about COVID-19 disappearing before we can discover palliative treatments. And then in the fall it may re-appear. Or not. If it follows its SARS predecessor, it will simply disappear. And we’ll get to do this all over again someday if we don’t learn now.
I agree with Wodun:
Every time I read an article saying masls are ineffective, they say it’s because:
1) people don’t wear them correctly and
2) It makes people bolder and they do other things they shouldn’t do.
3) Surgical masks and gowns are there to protect the patient – not the wearer
Nobody says that a correctly worn mask, with no leaks around the periphery, along with the usual actions such as not touching your face etc. WILL NOT mitigate your chances of getting the virus.
The language they use is really subtle and I can’t help but think they are doing that purposefully.
Masks with no leaks around the periphery are not masks, they’re respirators with valves. Otherwise the wearer will simply suffocate.
Your point three is factually true and has no bearing on whether they’re effective or not. Point two is conjecture. Point one is observationally validated, at least by my anecdote. I see an awful lot of people wearing the mask with their nose on the outside.
My personal nose is so big it tents up the mask, and the main passage of air in and out is under my glasses, causing the lenses to alternately fog up and clear.
“Masks with no leaks around the periphery are not masks, they’re respirators with valves. Otherwise the wearer will simply suffocate.”
Utterly – and I mean utterly – wrong.
“Your point three is factually true and has no bearing on whether they’re effective or not.”
Completely and utterly wrong AGAIN. I was listing the reasons given by articles and so called experts as to why masks are NOT effective. They are essentially saying that masks work only one way – protecting the outside from the mask wearer’s breath. They are saying that masks do not protect the wearer because masks are only there to protect people other than the mask wearer. They are contradicting themselves but that’s not my fault.
“Point two is conjecture.”
Then take it up with the person making the conjecture. I’m giving the reasons OTHER PEOPLE give for why masks are not helpful to the wearer.
” Point one is observationally validated, at least by my anecdote”
True but not universally true. and again an utterly irrelevant comment.
Here’s the point of my post:
I said: that these are the reasons given why masks don’t work.
I said: never have I read or heard that masks properly built and worn DO NOT help the wearer.
Okay. Now we’re pro-masks. Right?
The benefit/cost ratio of a mask in a hospital is certainly much higher than out in public. But that ratio in a hospital setting is ENORMOUS, many orders of magnitude greater than breakeven. So it could both be the case that the hospital use is much more valuable, AND it’s still worthwhile wearing masks in public.