Masks

[Kokeshi123]

I am not in the UK.

Are many people wearing masks as standard when out of the house?
If not, will people wear them when they become more available?

It is increasingly looking like the WHO was not telling the truth when they told everyone that masks didn't work for civilians.

[frazzledasarock]

No most people aren’t wearing masks here.

I think this virus is so new, the WHO had no idea what would and wouldn’t work for the virus.

My friend who lives in HongKong warned me to buy masks way back months ago.

[adiposegirl2]

I have and do wear a respitor mask with Filters when I leave the house.

I believe the WHO said masks dont work for civilians so as to minimise a run on masks thus creating a shortage for the medical profession worldwide.

[Kokeshi123]

Yes, it appears that the WHO said that masks don't work, because they wanted to avoid a run on masks.

Problem is, people are going to be suspicious of their advice in the future because people don't like being lied to.

The WHO has come quite badly out of this affair several times.

[WiseUpJanetWeiss]

Surgical masks don’t protect the wearer very much - they don’t fit well, and may make things worse because wearers adjust them frequently and therefore touch their faces more.

They are good for protecting the environment from the wearer, however, so if everyone wore them they would be protecting everyone else, if you see what I mean.

[JustStayAtHome]

I’m working with the public and we wear masks

Doesn’t matter if they work or not..... it gives the message ‘stay back, go home’ which the British public need telling!!

[daisypond]

A lot of people are wearing masks where I live. But not most.

[missyB1]

It depends entirely on which masks you are talking about. The paper surgical type masks are a waste of time, they might protect others from you for a short length of time (they have a short life span). They won’t really protect you from the virus. They are designed to be single use / disposable.

A fitted respirator mask with filters would be more useful, but you would have to have plenty of spare filters.

[eurochick]

There were a few in the supermarket when I went this week but very much a minority.

[Sparklingbrook]

As a PP said I think they work better to protect people from YOU than the other way around.
Then I read that the CV virus can remain on the mask for 7 hours, so I don't know what to think really.

[EileenAlanna]

I bought 30 washable/reusable masks last month, along with filters to go inside them. I kept 2 for myself & gave the rest to neighbours etc. They were from 2 different suppliers & worked out about 55p-65p each. I doubt they're available now & definitely not at that price. I know the filters I got have been removed completely from the site.

[IWouldLikeToKnow]

I work in healthcare. CV19 is thought to be droplet transmission. Surgical face masks are standard precautions against droplets. The FFP2/3 masks are used for certain medical procedures. The surgical face masks protect you against someone coughing or sneezing within a meter of you.

The problem with people wearing them without proper training is that I've seen so many people wearing them and then touching the front of the mask to remove/adjust. If someone does cough whilst in close contact with someone wearing a mask, the droplets are on the front of the mask. Then that gets transferred into the wearers hand when they touch it. This then gets transferred into their face/other surfaces. Thereby negating the reason this person is using it the first place.

It's the same with people thinking they are doing the right thing by wearing gloves. Going from one thing to another without changing gloves and hand washing in between. Gloves will harbour whatever microbes are under them therefore hands need washing thoroughly after taking off.

[WiseUpJanetWeiss]

^^
This, absolutely. Be careful mask-wearing people.

[Kokeshi123]

www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/would-everyone-wearing-face-masks-help-us-slow-pandemic
medium.com/@thejanellemj/please-join-me-in-wearing-a-mask-71e0e3f4fe4a

The overall verdict from what I have read is that while mask wearing as done by general public is imperfect, it does generally appear to slow the spread of the virus.

The WHO told people not to wear masks because they were worried about people hoarding them, meaning that medical personal would not be able to get them (although frankly, front line staff should be in N95s not paper masks).

It might have been better if they had been honest and given countries instructions on how to ramp up mask production and institute rationing systems quickly. The Taiwanese govt, as soon as the news about the virus was out there, went straight to the companies and basically said that they would provide a huge sum of government money to help the companies massively expand production of masks, in exchange for which the companies were required to let the government control 50% of distribution. There is a rationing system and everyone gets what they need.

I really think it is worth thinking about, simply because of the likelihood (looking at Taiwan, S'pore, Hong Kong and S Korea) that masking up could enable the UK to escape lockdown at an earlier stage. It could be a cheap measure that saves a fair bit of economic distress.

[Kokeshi123]

personnel not personal, sorry!

[PlanDeRaccordement]

Wearing masks slows the spread of the virus because it stops a incubating or sick mask wearer from spreading droplets to infect the healthy around them.
This is exactly what the WHO advised. That if you have symptoms, you need to wear a mask.

The basic surgical mask however, does not protect a healthy wearer from catching the virus. As described by IWouldLiketoknow above, it catches droplets and over time harbours the virus so when you adjust your mask you cross contaminate your hands and exposed part of your face.
That is why the WHO said if you are healthy you do not need a mask.

They did not “tell people not to wear masks” they gave accurate information about masks and their effectiveness.

[TheReelSlimShady]

Honestly, having looked at the data from the likes of South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong who all wear masks frequently anyway, masks really need to be the next control measure (although the likes of Singapore and Hong Kong also did more rampant contact tracing).

Even if it's just in closer contact environments e.g. going to the supermarket, it won't eradicate all transmission but it could at least help dampen it down.

[Oxyiz]

Has anyone tried making a home made version out of interest?

[Kokeshi123]

That if you have symptoms, you need to wear a mask.

But at least 50% of people are believed to be asymptomatic. Asymptomatic people emit somewhat less virus than people showing symptoms, but they are still emitting a lot. It's believed that most new cases are actually being caused by asymptomatic people.

In addition, masks also do appear to protect the wearer to an extent--see the links. In mask-wearing societies, mask use is imperfect but does appear to provide some protection.

In particular, it provides an immediate physical barrier if someone sneezes or coughs on you, which will deliver a big dose of the virus.

Getting exposed to a lot of the virus at once (being sneezed or coughed on, for example, as opposed to "touch a surface, touch your face" which will deliver far smaller amounts of the virus) probably increases the risk of developing severe symptoms or dying, as the immune system has less time to mount a defense, this is what I have been told.

High viral loads are probably the reason why we see more deaths than expected among quite young healthcare workers---they get exposed to gobs of mucus etc. when doing things like intubating patients.

Would be interesting if some regions in the UK took the initiative and rolled out mass mask-wearing, as it could enable us to see how much difference this makes.

In the meantime, even putting a scarf over your face may be better than nothing.

[PlanDeRaccordement]

The data you are reading showed that wearing masks slowed down the spread of the virus. But it wasnt because the healthy people were wearing masks. It was because the sick people were wearing masks. You are confusing coincidence with causation.

As the WHO said, there is no scientific evidence that a mask can protect a healthy person from infection.

Now, face shields on the other hand......those do protect.

[bumblingbovine49]

I have thought this for so long but have been poo pooed so often on here, I've given up saying it .
I am however not ashamed to admit I bought some.on January and if I have to go out shopping.will wear one from.now.on

It is all about cutting down the general transmission risk at a population level.not.juat protecting myself. As others have said this is particularly important if there are a lot.of asymptomatic carriers around.

I have never understood why saying sneeze or cough into a tissue will.help matters but not sneeze into a mask .

[bumblingbovine49]

*The problem with people wearing them without proper training is that I've seen so many people wearing them and then touching the front of the mask to remove/adjust.

I don't see the difference between being told to cough into a tissue, throw.ir away and then wash hands.and wear a mask but dispose of it safely in a.sealed bin as soon as you can if you have coughed or sneezed more than a few times and to follow the normal rules.of not touching your face and washing hands etc

If.people understood what a surgical mask was for ( to prevent the wearer passing on an illness when asymptomatic) then we would be treating the pubic as adults instead of the ridiculous and obvious half truths being spread about masks in Europe at the moment

However we would.need.there to.be an emphasis on mask production/ purchase and health care works should of course be prioritised for these. It just shouldn't need it be either or

[NotEverythingIsBlackandwhite]

My N95 respirator masks are due to arrive today. I went shopping a few days ago in Asda and over 50% were wearing masks and/or gloves. It really shocked me. I went into the supermarket feeling fine and came out so stressed and immediately checked on line and ordered masks for my family.

I'm not easily spooked but I felt really un-nerved and couldn't wait to get out of there.

[Happybunny199]

Well I have been wearing a mask with filters for a while now. Mainly only when I go out to the supermarket (once in 10 days). I went there yesterday and was literally the only person with the mask and a women in a queue who was having a bit of a cough and sneeze in front of me started shaking her head at me as if I WAS doing something wrong. I didnt say anything to her just felt awkward. But my view is if everyone wore one (which is now illegal not to wear masks in some EU countries) nobody would transmit the virus as surely is half people are asymptomatic I dont know if I am ot one of them?? Also it may not protect 100% but it does provide at least some protection from the virus I dont see how it can harm.providing you dont touch it while you wear it which is hard if you have itchy nose lol I think we all should wear them when in public.