this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2024
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I'm still afraid of long-c. I insisted that we wore masks in airports and on flights when we took a trip last month. We live life in a normal fashion everywhere else (because we're vaxxed and boosted), but I wasn't willing to risk that environment.
Do masks help the wearer? Last time I heard it didn't. Probably wrong.
Either way, good for you...even if it only helps others that's a good reason!
They still block droplets from reaching the wearer.
The droplet theory was dropped within the first few months. It turns out it's not just COVID; many infections we thought were spread by droplets are actually airborne.
Oh, thanks for the info. How effective are n95s and/or surgical/cloth masks given that information?
Surgical/cloth are pretty much useless for COVID. N95s buy you temporary protection unless you've got the special face fittings needed to actually seal your face. It depends on the environment you're in but the worst case scenarios (like enclosed spaces without high airflow), the last study I saw was on the Delta variant and they said about 15 minutes if both parties are masked. It does get better from there though, with good ventilation you might have a few hours, and being outdoors you're actually pretty safe.
It helps to check whether or not the things you say are true before you declare them.
In this case, it is not true that they are "pretty much useless for COVID."
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7510705/
This article is from before they dropped droplet theory later in 2020. In the section titled "Factors to Consider when Using Cloth Masks to Protect Wearers and to Prevent Spread of Infection during the COVID-19 Pandemic":
They then go on to explain that cloth masks are the option of last resort and are not very useful. Surgical masks with proper fitting around the face and a certain minimum rating for water resistance will help, but most of the "surgical" masks we were all buying do not have enough layers and no water resistance ratings, and who among us got training on how to properly fit a mask to our faces?
Dropping a link and calling it information when you don't understand the content or haven't read it is not productive.
N95 masks block more than droplets too, they are quite effective