Face masks

[Car-Guy]

CDC guidance has certainly been all over the map.

It never made sense that masks protected others but not the wearer, but that is what they were saying until very recently.

Agree with that 100%... Seemed like common sense to me.

 

[Gumby]

Agree with that 100%... Seemed like common sense to me.

I don't think anyone ever said that your wearing a mask does not protect you from becoming infected. What has been said, fairly consistently since the start, is that the biggest risk reduction comes when an infected person wears a mask. There is a substantially smaller, yet still noticeable, reduction in risk when those who come in contact with that infected person are also wearing a mask. I realize that may be too nuanced for some, but that is and has been the case.

 

[Car-Guy]

I don't think anyone ever said that your wearing a mask does not protect you from becoming infected. What has been said, fairly consistently since the start, is that the biggest risk reduction comes when an infected person wears a mask. There is a substantially smaller, yet still noticeable, reduction in risk when those who come in contact with that infected person are also wearing a mask. I realize that may be too nuanced for some, but that is and has been the case.

From my POV it was the focus/communications that masks were really to help stop infected people from spreading the virus...Anyway, that's the message I got. And I can agree with that... It's just I don't recall hearing them say much about masks helping the non infected until recently.

 

[Boho]

CDC guidance has certainly been all over the map.

It never made sense that masks protected others but not the wearer, but that is what they were saying until very recently.

I mentioned a NY Times article on that in early May:

The NYT recently had an article about home made masks protecting the wearer to various extents. I already figured that despite hearing the opposite numerous times.

It's all about finding a reliable source.

I don't read crap.

Still don't.

 

[audreyh1]

There was a lot of information and discussion in July about how even cloth masks reduced the amount of virus an individual is exposed to. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440799/

Maybe the discussion about exposure dose and resulting outcome hasn’t been so explicit - i.e. that a smaller exposure dose could mean no infection, asymptomatic infection, or a very mild case, while a large exposure dose could mean a bad case. That’s more nuanced, but I have seen it discussed from time to time.

 

[Montecfo]

I don't think anyone ever said that your wearing a mask does not protect you from becoming infected. What has been said, fairly consistently since the start, is that the biggest risk reduction comes when an infected person wears a mask. There is a substantially smaller, yet still noticeable, reduction in risk when those who come in contact with that infected person are also wearing a mask. I realize that may be too nuanced for some, but that is and has been the case.

They did, in fact say that masks do not protect the wearer. That was reiterated with the change in guidance as this link for example, makes clear:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/10/health/masks-cdc-updated-guidance/index.html

They also used to say not to wear masks before that.

 

[Chuckanut]

There was a lot of information and discussion in July about how even cloth masks reduced the amount of virus an individual is exposed to. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440799/

Maybe the discussion about exposure dose and resulting outcome hasn’t been so explicit - i.e. that a smaller exposure dose could mean no infection, asymptomatic infection, or a very mild case, while a large exposure dose could mean a bad case. That’s more nuanced, but I have seen it discussed from time to time.

+1


Dose = exposure-time X virus-concentration


The goal is to reduce both, if possible.

 

[Gumby]

They also used to say not to wear masks before that.

As in most areas of life, context is important. In the early days, there was a great shortage of all PPE, most especially N95 masks, for medical workers who had no choice but to come into contact with COVID infected people. In order to prevent the general public from hoarding all the N95 mask supply, leaving none for the hospitals, masking was downplayed. Now, we have better supplies.

 

[Car-Guy]

In order to prevent the general public from hoarding all the N95 mask supply, leaving none for the hospitals, masking was downplayed. Now, we have better supplies.

Downplayed..... Nice way of putting it... Glad we are now being told the truth

 

[Gumby]

Downplayed..... Nice way of putting it... Glad we are now being told the truth

Look, if you just want to pissed off about something, go right ahead. But realize that life is full of nuance; I have found that binary thinking is rarely helpful.

In any event, we are getting far afield from the actual topic of this thread, which is where and how to get masks, so I suggest we just drop it.

 

[Montecfo]

As in most areas of life, context is important. In the early days, there was a great shortage of all PPE, most especially N95 masks, for medical workers who had no choice but to come into contact with COVID infected people. In order to prevent the general public from hoarding all the N95 mask supply, leaving none for the hospitals, masking was downplayed. Now, we have better supplies.

Yes I am all about context. But CDC guidance has been all over the place, as I said, on mask-wearing.

Their guidance has in fact been contradictory.

 

[Gumby]

Yes I am all about context. But CDC guidance has been all over the place, as I said, on mask-wearing.

Their guidance has in fact been contradictory.

I'll repeat my earlier response to Car-Guy. Let's return this thread and its readers to the regularly scheduled program - where and how to get masks.

 

[Car-Guy]

Look, if you just want to pissed off about something, go right ahead. But realize that life is full of nuance; I have found that binary thinking is rarely helpful.

In any event, we are getting far afield from the actual topic of this thread, which is where and how to get masks, so I suggest we just drop it.

Binary thinking... Well we can agree that we are getting off topic and to stop the tangential discussion.

 

[MichaelB]

Thanks for an interesting discussion