Not wearing masks to protect against coronavirus is a big mistake

Science has tried to interview George Gao, director-general of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), for 2 months. Last week he responded.

This is a short interview and most of what this man says is what we would expect to hear, except for one thing. Remember this from the Surgeon General posted on Twitter?...

Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS! They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!

In the opinion of the director-general that is WRONG.

The big mistake in the U.S. and Europe, in my opinion, is that people aren’t wearing masks. This virus is transmitted by droplets and close contact. Droplets play a very important role—you’ve got to wear a mask, because when you speak, there are always droplets coming out of your mouth. Many people have asymptomatic or presymptomatic infections. If they are wearing face masks, it can prevent droplets that carry the virus from escaping and infecting others.

I have also read that Taiwan and now the Czech Republic have also used masks as part of their own successful campaigns against CV.
Source
Twitter thread on masks

ETA: From the twitter thread:
"Here's 34 scientific papers that all point to the same thing: masks (even home made ones) really work to dramatically reduce the spread of covid-19." I have not read all of these. Judge for yourself.
Effectiveness of basic masks

Problem is, there are no masks.

originally posted by: LordAhriman
Problem is, there are no masks.

Good point, but if we can co-op GM to make ventilators, surely we can encourage an American company to produce masks. If not, Taiwan is producing 10 million a day. Maybe we can buy some from them.

a reply to: LordAhriman

Problem is, people don't even know how to wear the ones they get. Nine out of ten people I've seen wearing a mask don't have it on right.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: LordAhriman

Problem is, people don't even know how to wear the ones they get. Nine out of ten people I've seen wearing a mask don't have it on right.

Believe me, I know. I'm on my first break at Walmart for the day, and I've already seen at least 10 masks that aren't doing anybody any good. Mostly homemade ones.

a reply to: Klassified

Some points;

Masks don’t necessarily protect you from others. Masks protect others from you.

Most don’t wear them properly, they over-use, misuse masks.

N95 masks don’t protect from everything and have a limited time span for use.

P100 masks can be reused if filters are changed regularly.

The best rule of thumb is to assume YOU are the one with the virus and act/behave as if you do not want to infect anyone else.


2 cents

a reply to: Klassified

Right now, My Pillow has started making masks in mass production. There are American companies stepping up to make more masks.

In the meantime, you CAN make you own mask.

There are lots of online tutorials on youtube with free patterns. Then get allergy filter vacuum bags. Cut to fit inside your mask, remove the paper, the filter that is left is what you put in. These masks are not as effective as N95 masks because they are not snug to the face. But the filtration through the vacuum bag filters is said to be close to N95 protective. I already made one for my Mom. You don't have to be a perfect seamstress to make one. You just need 1/4 yard 100% cotton quilting fabric, 1/4 yard 100% cotton muslin fabric, 1/4" elastic, matching thread, matching bias tape, and any brand allergy rated vacuum bag.

If you can't sew, buy the stuff for Mom or a friend who can sew and PAY them to make you one. They are not easy to make, so don't ask someone to make one for you without buying all the stuff, then PAY them for their time and effort. OR give them a couple of big packages of toilet paper, or bags of flour or bags of rice or any other items the person needs and is having trouble getting. First time around it took me 4 hours to make one for Mom. I'm sure as I get better, it will go much much faster. But think about what that persons, probably more like 2 hours of labor to save your tush is worth to you and give it to them in exchange.

a reply to: Klassified

Meanwhile in Australia

While masks can help to prevent transmission of disease from infected people to others, they are not recommended for healthy people for the prevention of infections like COVID-19.

Face masks not recommended

What?.........Why?........How?...........My head hurts.

a reply to: DBCowboy

Liking your reply pretty hard.

Had to stop at the store quickly, didn't have a mask, but had gloves. What I saw was ridiculous. People & kids in masks touching EVERYTHING bare handed an masks on completely wrong. Kids crawling on floor while Mom's shopped!
People politely doing the 6ft distancing, yet bare handed opening cooler doors for milk, eggs ect...

Normal folks aren't treating this like C-Diff yet they should.
Early news is C-19 CAN last in spore form on surfaces for 3 weeks. You CAN get reinfected.

Everyone eventually is going to be exposed, develop an immunity or not, but there is no reason for the foolishness we're seeing out in public places. It's exactly like playing Russian roulette with your life.

a reply to: Jamie2018

Why face masks are not recommended for non-medical personnel

I had a Surgeon General of our state prison system explain it to me.

Lay people when they have a mask on generally are constantly playing with it.

They are uncomfortable, the better the mask, the more uncomfortable to wear. So people mess with it trying to get comfortable.

They make breathing hot - so people lift them to get a breath of fresh air.

Every time they do this in public.

They put their hands either:
near their eyes
near their mouths
all over their face
The exact places we are not supposed to touch.

Having gloves on in public and constantly adjusting the masks is just as bad as bare hands unless you change the gloves to fresh ones every time you adjust the mask.

If YOU can resist the urge to touch your face mask it is effective for lay persons. Then you MUST use gloves to throw it away in the "big" trash - and immediately throw in the washer your handmade cloth mask without touching it with your bare hands - then sanitize everything you touched putting the cloth mask in the washer - and then wash your hands for 30 seconds with soap.

But the VAST majority of us do this subconsciously where medical personnel have it drilled into them, they are trained and trained, not to touch their masks.

a reply to: The2Billies

OK so simply put, masks are uncomfortable and make you touch your face more, I sort of understand, but my head still hurts.

He agreed with what the surgeon general said: a surgical mask won’t stop you from getting sick, but they’ll stop the infected from infecting others by blocking the droplets when they cough. He practically repeated what the SG said and then said the SG was wrong.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: Klassified

Some points;

Masks don’t necessarily protect you from others. Masks protect others from you.

Most don’t wear them properly, they over-use, misuse masks.

N95 masks don’t protect from everything and have a limited time span for use.

P100 masks can be reused if filters are changed regularly.

The best rule of thumb is to assume YOU are the one with the virus and act/behave as if you do not want to infect anyone else.


2 cents

Exactly. Thank you!

a reply to: DBCowboy

The best rule of thumb is to just live in MOPP-4. If you’re going to give advice, give good advice man, c’mon.

originally posted by: Caver78
a reply to: DBCowboy

Liking your reply pretty hard.

Had to stop at the store quickly, didn't have a mask, but had gloves. What I saw was ridiculous. People & kids in masks touching EVERYTHING bare handed an masks on completely wrong. Kids crawling on floor while Mom's shopped!
People politely doing the 6ft distancing, yet bare handed opening cooler doors for milk, eggs ect...

Normal folks aren't treating this like C-Diff yet they should.
Early news is C-19 CAN last in spore form on surfaces for 3 weeks. You CAN get reinfected.

Everyone eventually is going to be exposed, develop an immunity or not, but there is no reason for the foolishness we're seeing out in public places. It's exactly like playing Russian roulette with your life.

Interestingly enough, gloves are not recommended as they do more to spread the virus than contain it.

a reply to: LordAhriman

The CCP stopped exporting vital medical equipment and supplies to us in the US and select others. They are for their own use set by their own priorities.

They want us to screw this up.

Added-
I guess its factory building time. Put up some billboards nationwide with the "We did it once we can do it again" slogan next to a worker with a wide spiffy smile.

a reply to: Klassified

The dangers of masks and gloves is that they give a false sense of security and most don't know how to properly take them off once they've been worn.

a reply to: DBCowboy

I've been licking door knobs to build up my immunity.

originally posted by: Shamrock6
He agreed with what the surgeon general said: a surgical mask won’t stop you from getting sick, but they’ll stop the infected from infecting others by blocking the droplets when they cough. He practically repeated what the SG said and then said the SG was wrong.

Wrong in that the SG told everyone to stop buying masks.