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Why to wear a mask.

HippieChick58 9 May 23
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18 comments

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1

Everyone is talking about their "god given rights." Let's put them to the test and ask that they show us these rights because I'm not sure just where they are listed. Are they in the bible, or where?

0

As they say " Well trained" .

4

Some people should always wear a mask. And a gag would be even better. A gag for the President would do wonders for stemming the pandemic and the misinformation surrounding it.

1

Masks help keep infected people from propagating disease. It's been proven in multiple studies. Wear the mask.

I’m interested in those studies. I haven’t seen or heard of them. Did you hear that from a legitimate source that named said studies?

2

And it makes me feel like I am doing SOMETHING to defeat this little mite.

1

We in Australia were told not to wear a mask; likewise New Zealand. We were told to socially isolate as much as possible and to frequently wash/sanitise hands and maintain 1.5m distance when out.
Australia's death toll stands at 102, average age of death is 80. NZ death toll is 21.

I dunno what you're doing or not doing in the USA but clearly it has been far less effective.
[sciencealert.com]

Edit: Most shops or places where there is a receptionist have put up screens. We can still talk but are protected.

@altschmerz Yeah we did have some nutters our demonstrating and shouting about their human rights. The main spokesperson contracted the virus. They were largely ridiculed by the larger community. Oh and they were fined for violating the law.

1

Like everything in the US, it’s been/ being politicized. Walked into the rural hardware store yesterday for rural reasons. In the middle of explaining what I was looking for to 3 employees, with a couple customers listening ..I had to add ‘how strange it felt to be the only person wearing a mask.’ They kinda fell about the place ..when I added, ‘I’m not doing it for political reasons.’

No shit.

Varn Level 8 May 23, 2020
2

How many of those people cross the street against the traffic light. Oh, I’ll cross when “I” want to, not when the “herd” crosses! It’s my “gawd given RIGHT” to cross when I want to! S M A C K!!! ——— Guess my first amendment rights didn’t protect me after all! 😳

1

The requirement of wearing a face mask is due to the need of health officials to calm people’s fears, and not because it helps in any way. Wearing a mask gives a false sense of security. There is nothing that a mask can do that cannot be accomplished with safe distance, even in the presence of asymptomatic infected people. My position against using face mask has nothing to do with human rights; I just don’t like to be forced to follow herd mentality.

I work in billing for a pediatric hospital. My employer has ruled that ALL staff on hospital property will be masked. The non care provider staff can wear cloth masks, those with patient contact will wear other masks. I still work full time in the office, we can remove our masks at our desks so long as we are 6 feet from the next employee. Our cubes are large enough we can do that. I wear my mask as soon as I get out of my car until I am settled at my desk. I also wear it when/if I go shopping or anyplace else. It isn't herd mentality, it is herd immunity. We are protecting the weaker members of society. It is the same reason we get vaccinations, as much to protect us as to protect those that can't get the vaccination due to weakened immune systems.

@HippieChick58 If you are ok with wearing the mask, that is your prerogative. Only one thing: herd mentality is NOT herd immunity. And wearing a mask does nothing in one way or another to create herd immunity.

The real reason for wearing a mask is to create less of a virus cloud if you are a carrier. In exactly the same way people performing surgery wear masks so as to not push possibly contaminated air into a patients open body. The mask isn’t for you, it’s to protect others FROM you.
Your absolutely right about it being useless as a prophylactic. Anyone that’s ever used one to keep from breathing dust should know this.

a simple explanation....

@JacobMeyers The cloud in front of us is vapor, which does not carry the virus. The virus is only in droplets of saliva, and those droplets do not travel too far. That is why the safe distance accomplishes all we need to prevent from becoming infected. We cannot get the virus from an infected asymptomatic person at safe distance. So, as long as one is not symptomatic (sneezing and coughing) the mask is just a fashion statement (to be afraid is in fashion nowadays). Surgeons cover their faces because we carry many more critters in us, and some are small enough to be in the exhaled vapor.
Have you tried using a face mask while wearing glasses? They get foggy, don’t they? The mask does not stop the cloud from forming around our head.

@Dougl35534 Symptomatic people should self quarantine. The droplets of saliva of asymptomatic people do not travel farther than a meter and a half (5 feet); therefore, with a 6 feet safe distance, no mask needed.

@Rodatheist No the air you expel contains droplets and micro droplets, and they are now proved to be a major and paerhaps the main way that the virus spreads. The knowledge is improving all the time.

@Rodatheist except nobody is standing still, so you leave a trail, and so does everyone else, and you walk through clouds of droplets, duuuuhhhhhhh

"Safe distance" would be just peachy if we all stood still, duhhhhh....

To borrow a line from the Martian, "I'm gonna have to science the shit out of this", can you say micro droplets are not a form of transmission? .

You are WRONG. Masks help keep infected people from propagating disease. It's been proven in multiple studies. Wear the mask.

@Rodatheist if the virus isn’t in vapor then you are totally right. If the virus is in vapor the foundation of your argument crumbles. Therefor it’s a very important point. What is making you believe that the virus can’t be present in vapor?

@Fernapple I believe that. But then, because using a face mask does not stop the vapor from going out and in through the sides of the mask, the mask does not protect from infection through breathing the air exhales by someone else. The mask helps when a symptomatic person sneezes and coughs and ir “reduces” but does not eliminate the exhalation of viruses.

@AnneWimsey And do you think a mask is protecting you when you walk through a cloud exhaled by an infected person? Do you think that an infected person cannot leave a cloud when wearing a mask? If you do then your mask is giving you a false sense of security.

@Dougl35534 They may be a form of transmission. In fact, let’s say they are a form of transmission. A mask won’t protect you from breathing them in, and of course, it does not protect your eyes. And a mask does not stop those micro droplets from forming a cloud coming out from the sides of the mask. So, a mask just provides a false sense of security.

@Happycanuck the masks that surgeons use protect only from large droplets from the patient or to the patient, but they do not stop smaller viruses. When treating an infectious patient, N95 masks are more appropriate because they fit tightly and provide filtration of the air coming in or out. The face masks of common use in the population, and now the clothe washable ones, are far from protecting at an N95 level. I don’t see how from the fact that regular consumer masks do not protect us from breathing in a cloud from someone else you derive that surgeons should not wear one of surgical quality.

@AtheistInNC Studies have not “proven” that. At most, they have shown to reduce exposure. Perhaps you could remember that very few things in life are WRONG or RIGHT. But of course if you think that your face masks protects you, go head. What kills you is not what you don’t know, what kills you is what you thing you know to be true but it isn’t.

@Rodatheist I didn't say a mask would protect you breathing them in. Maybe look at the pee graphic again and then watch the video again. The only place where the mask has value is it provides "speed bumps" for the infected you from spreading your crap. It is the same reasons doctors wear mask, they don't wear them to protect them from the patients, it's attempting to minimize what the doctor and others in surgery have from infecting the patient. A mask helps....we don't have to deal with you spraying it instead of just saying it.

@JacobMeyers Viruses may be in the vapor; the jury is out but it points that way. And if they are, no mask, other that perhaps an N95 is going to protect from it. And by the way, an N95 does not protect your eyes. So, again, governments ordering the use of a face mask is just an imposition that responds to the fear of their constituents, and not a real means of protection. That is where my initial herd mentality comment rests on.

@Rodatheist I get that. I have education on and have worked in sterile areas. There’s pretty much no way individuals in public can keep up sterile technique for extended periods of time. It’s just too cumbersome and requires too much thought for the average. And as you mentioned if you’re wearing a mask but no goggles you are fooling yourself. I still think there could be merit to a mask though. IF the virus can be spread by micro droplets that have been shown to hang in the air for extended periods of time, then it’s possible a mask may absorb a portion of the virus carrying vapor.
I’ve not done a deep dive on it but as far as I know it’s not been conclusively proven that THIS coronavirus can live on surfaces for hours or days yet surfaces everywhere are being meticulously scrubbed with bleach or Lysol. Why? Because it might be able to live on surfaces for day’s. I feel it should be the same with masks until the science says it doesn’t help. We aren’t there yet though.
FWIW, I’m not wearing a mask except when it’sv required. I suspect you are right in that the main reason for forcing masks is that the govt is appealing to the heightened fear response exhibited by a lot of us. It’s something they can point to and say “see, we are doing something”. That doesn’t mean it can’t have unintended good consequences though.

@Athena I went into Walmart and saw my friend Pat wearing a mask. I knew her instantly and then asked her how that was possible. A mask hides identity for Batman, The Lone Ranger, and others.

@Athena well, to be fair, he also used a shirt and pants and a necktie and a hat, and I never saw him taking his shoes and socks off, but those were definitely needed to conceal the pant of the costume that covered his feen in blue! 😉

7

I think it all stems from 45 setting a terrible, defiant, disrespectful precedent and his followers did what they do best...followed blindly.
Imagine if he had endorsed the idea of wearing masks. They would boycott any place that didn't require them.

4

Well said!

12

Too many Karens. Not enough signs.

4

I agree. It's a simple combo of "their house, their rules". As long as the rules are not used to purposely discriminate against people by race, gender, etc., then I'm ok with it. In this case the rules are simply to protect public health. If you have a problem with that, then you need to stay at home or order your stuff online or by phone and either pick it up outside or have it delivered.

6

Perfect! I must borrow this, and hope it strikes a chord with someone.

8

I 100% agree with you, it’s not a matter of rights, it’s a social contract. When I ware my mask, I’m not doing it to protect me from you, I’m doing it to protect you from me. If you’re not willing to do this minor inconvenience that could save my life the contract is broken. We all share this planet and we need to work together. We can either selfishly help one another by wearing a mask or we can selfishly hurt each other by not wearing a mask. Seems like a no brainer

6
6

Absolutely

UUNJ Level 8 May 23, 2020
8

Would you look at that!?!!!
Common sense.

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