The problem with people wearing masks, as I've noticed over the last few weeks is people don't seem to know how to wear them. Over the mouth and chin...nose exposed, scrunched up over the nose while having a cig.....used as a miniature hat are just a few of the looks I've seen in the queue for Tesco.......all while not being able to stand at a line rather than in between them
It's explained in the paper; droplets are largest closest to the source (nose, mouth) and can me trapped by the mask if worn. Once the droplets are further from the source they reduce in size (become aerosols) which are less likely be trapped by the fabric of any mask (unless it's a medical grade fine filter one) so can infect the wearer.
Wearing one will help protect you, but it’s not guaranteed. I saw some numbers the other day that said the following (please note, I couldn’t find a source for these numbers, so they could be BS) You wearing one will protect you from others up to 70% The other person wearing one will protect you up to 95% Both people wearing one will protect both people up to 99.6%
Link to CDC page, which shows how to wear one, and several options for home made face coverings. The t-shirt option looks a doddle, but you may prefer the sewing machine if you're a bit of a seamstress. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html
Evidently, as there is no consensus in the scientific community the issue is far more complex than anyone in this thread can understand. The article posted puts forward the case for the use of face masks, but there will undoubtedly be strong cases against. The role of SAGE is to peer review all the available evidence, and they are much better equipped to do this than us. What I don’t see any point in doing is trivialising the issue into a few characters in a online post on a football forum.
Well that’s nice and patronising. And I don’t agree with you that the issue is too complex for normal people to understand. It really isn’t that hard. Are you saying that we should just follow the government advice on all these issues with no attempt to understand the science. Just trust what number 10 says Most of us get why social distancing is important and workswhich is why it’s been so successful. The paper I linked to makes a good case for masks. I could understand it I would be delighted to read a similar paper putting the case against. If it exists that is but most of the discussion about masks for the general public had been focussed on medical grade PPE to protect the wearer and that’s a significantly different topic.
It’s not patronising, it’s a matter of fact. It’s not possible to distill all the available evidence onto this forum. Why is this paper from one academic any better than the paper from another academic? If it really isn’t that hard why isn’t there a consensus amongst academics? Yes I do believe people should be following government advice on health issues. It’s great if we can understand it - everyone should try to and then hopefully it will improve compliance. However, for issues that are complex, we have scientists who have studied infectious diseases in SAGE for 20+ years peer reviewing all the available evidence who’s job it is to make recommendations about what is in our best interests. Thankfully the general concept of social distancing is easy to communicate to the public and easy to understand. However, if it wasn’t and I couldn’t understand it I’d still follow it. And just to be clear, I’m not against people wearing face masks properly whilst still adhering to social distancing. Nor is the government, it’s just that the evidence supporting the wearing of face masks is currently weak, with social distancing, hygiene etc. much more effective, with the behavioural considerations to think about too.
Interesting debate and from what I've read and understand, I conclude that; 1. pointless wearing a mask if you are not infected 2. pointless wearing a mask if you are/have been infected but you're no longer infectious 3. and since we're not doing enough testing and don't know whether we're infected or have been, it's pointless wearing a mask unless everyone else is In the light of what I've seen so far, there are enough thoughtless idiots out there to make it pointless. Of course if somehow you know you have it, then for the good of the community at large, WEAR A MASK and DON'T SPIT AT OTHER PEOPLE or COUGH IN THEIR FACE.
^^^ This. And just for the record my day job is being a professor at a university and running a research team investigating challenging biomedical problems. I think I can grasp the concepts of wearing a mask or not.
Isn't that a bit defeatist? If wearing masks becomes normalised then the spread of many airborne infections is reduced. One of the great challenges of Covid-19 is that a large proportion of the infected (80-90%) are asymptomatic, so don't know they're spreading it. Hence the normalisation of wearing face masks (or simply covering your nose and mouth) when in confined public spaces should be encouraged.
Tbh I don’t see why they don’t make it compulsory for a bit, can’t do any harm and can only help. Making it the norm would remove the should I / shouldn’t I and any awkwardness factors
If I had a mask on whilst out it would irritate the **** out of me and bring my hands in contact with my face much more than without wearing one, having said that I can also see it having some benefits in the fight to quell the spread. Leave it to the individual I say at the moment.
The issue is going to be supply, but I imagine people will make their own or make them for their communities
The one argument I've seen against it (think it was a doctor on a TV interview) was the consequences of people not disposing / washing the masks properly after a single use, which would lead to them just carrying the virus around and spreading it that way, which would've been avoided by keeping a distance without a mask. Agree that you'd want everyone on a bus with a mask, but workplaces will need to make provisions to allow people to wash them as soon as they get into work.
Maybe but unless you can convince (or force) everyone to wear one it won't work. I think the real point I was trying to make was on testing. Unless we can get everyone tested, both for having the infection and for the post infection antibodies then anything we do has to be a sort of belt and braces approach where people go the extra mile, just to be on the safe side. My experience of people is that they like to cut corners and take unnecessary risks in normal life (look at the standard of driving) so getting them to buy in to such an approach will be nigh on impossible.