Masks. This Prof says if everybody wore one it would stop the virus in its tracks.

[DonPablo]

guardian opinion piece link

It's all so confusing, right at the start of all this we were told masks were pointless. The article says that when South Korea enforced mask wearing their death rate and tragectory, which did look like Italys, dropped right off.

Anyone want to discuss this with me? Should we all be wearing masks?

People in Asia wear masks anyway as routine - it hasn’t been known to stop transmission of other similar viruses such as the flu, or measles, or SARS. Be careful what you read - there is a lot of fake ‘science’ being bandied about. The fact is that an improperly fitted / worn face mask is next to useless. The US advice is just a placebo to calm people down. If cloth masks really worked then they would form part of PPE.

Well they can’t decide if it’s airborne or not, so I’m not surprised there’s no consensus about whether a mask is helpful.

I do wonder if they played down masks originally to stop people stockpiling them.

I wore a mask yesterday when shopping and I’ll probably do so again. It certainly stopped me touching my face as much.

Ok am this close to buying a couple from Etsy now!

From The Guardian article:
"We can also see dramatic results when a country changes its policy on masks. Masks were hard to come by in South Korea until late February. Then the government stepped in and ensured a supply for every person in the country. Up until then, South Korea showed a similar-shaped exponential trajectory to Italy. After that point the exponential growth slowed, and today the number of active cases is decreasing. There is no economic lockdown there."
This speaks for itself.

@Shitsgettingcrazy in South Korea they were masks a lot anyway so that would not be very useful data

I think it should be encouraged. It may or may not be effective but it doesn’t do any harm and it’s potentially one more line of defence.

You’d need to be fastidious about what you do with it when you get home though, chucking it on the sofa and then sticking it back on your face next day would do more harm than good.

Maybe we should not be arguing about whether a home made mask stops 100% of droplets 100% of the time. If it can be shown to stop 10%, 20%, 30%, or 40% most of the time then it would presumably be worth wearing as it would significantly mitigate the risks. Or do we think it would create a false sense of security and undermine other measures?

Question, masks do not cover the eyes so obviously they can’t stop the mask 100% because somebody could touch a surface with the virus then touch their eyes so they mould get infected.

Also I don’t think it’s so much that masks aren’t useful it’s that most people don’t know how to use them correctly. I have seen a multitude of people reusing single use masks.

They use their bare dirty hands to unwrap the masks and constantly use their hands to adjust it on their face as it doesn’t fit well.

The gp on in uk are not used to wearing them so don’t wear them properly . That’s the main reason I think it won’t be completely effective.

It's just plain obviously that obstructing your nose and mouth would lower the likelihood of viruses in liquid being passed from one person to another. How much would depend on how effective the covering, how long it had been used and what was coming out of someone's mouth.

The warnings at the start were about appropriate usage, saying people might take a mask off to eat then get it contaminated on the inside and put it back on.

Having been out yesterday and struggled to keep a scarf round my face and had I'll looking people coming right up to me in the supermarket I'm going to see one before going out again.

sew not see

Thing is wearing a mask doesn’t protect you as much as it does everyone else around you. Every time wearing masks is mentioned by the media it’s content is focus the affect to the wearer, rather than concentrating on the benefit to everyone else..

If we all wore homemade masks, face coverings etc it would indeed protect to some degree everyone around us and ultimately ourselves by doing so

If I have the virus and don’t know, then I go to the supermarket and cough or sneeze, I’ll leave some residue when I do - but put a mask on me and the residue from coughing or sneezing will be far far less
Just as washing hands plays a part, and keeping surfaces clean - it all plays a part

We need to stop thinking just as to whether wearing something or doing something protects just us and look at the bigger picture

If masks were so great we wouldn’t be seeing the high number of infections and deaths in HCP.
Statistics can be used to prove or disprove anything. Masks are used all the time in some parts of the year due to poor air quality. Just because we see news stories showing them being worn doesn’t mean it’s for Coronavirus.

They are very simple and easy to
make. Lots of videos on YouTube.

*year world

Attributing the South Korea numbers purely to masks sounds very simplistic. Ive seen many different rationales as to why they’re lower than elsewhere. It’s probably a whole combination of factors.

@oralengineer exactly health professionals are still dying even though they use them constantly. It is clearly not 100% effective.

I think the main thing is that it stops people putting their fingers on their noses and mouths.

People local to me are making them. I was given a couple. Just fabric ones. We must keep the filter ones for the NHS. I work in the NHS and PPE is still in short supply.

I haven't worn my home made one yet but it looks pretty badass. It's made of a bold flowery material!

The problem with us all wearing masks is that they now impossible to buy anywhere (UK).

They need to tell us a viable option of other things we could use/make that would do the job. Ie. Is there any point wearing a scarf over your mouth or does it need to be a particular material/certain number of layers etc.
Just telling us all to wear masks now when you can’t buy them, creates even more stress, which in itself is bad for your immune system.

Fabric masks are unlikely to be 100% effective. However, joe public does not spend the day getting close up to covid patients. Combined with hand washing and social distancing fabric masks should help slow spread.

Can we keep medical masks for medical people.

If you want a mask make one.

This video is from a hospital. Home made masks are their plan C. Instructions and a bit of science.

I don't think this is an example of bad science @GrumpyHoonMain, but appreciate your point. Fake or bad science has definitely mushroomed during this outbreak!
But if wearing masks is the answer, and they don't have to be fitted, or made to specific standards to be effective, this seems like an easy enough step to take. And I think everyone would appreciate a simple solution to this situation, I know I would!

@cinammonbuns exactly. It's so difficult to compare what's working in one country to another. Because we have different cultures, habits (pre and post corona) and reporting.

@EstuaryBird I think that's one of the issues that is putting countries off recommending it. Feeling safer, reusing coverings without washing, dropping of the hygiene standards are all potential out falls.

Italy's lockdown has been going on a while. At least part of their improvement will be down to that. Not masks in themsleves.

How long have italy had face coverings as compulsory?

I just think in these times we need to question what we have been told. If we are to wear them, I am ok with that. Dp has a motor bike and has bandanas he wears over this mouth anyway. So we have plenty.

@LaurieMarlow right. They tested at an insane rate and had tracking data for everyone who was confirmed positive and sent alerts to people’s phones about places a confirmed case had been.

Also SK people are more compliant to their government, without an official ‘lockdown’ streets where empty as soon as cases started to rise.

Even know they are still seeing some new infections but it has slowed. Definitely not 100% due to face masks.

Presumably wearing a scarf is at least as good as always coughing or sneezing into a tissue.
For that reason alone is it not worth it?

Masks are often worn in Japan, it’s a cultural custom that if you have a cold you wear one to protect others from catching your cold

HCP are dealing with many cases of Virus and unfortunately that will put them at a far greater risk, they aren’t going to stop wearing the masks though as a protection measure

Washing your hands
Testing testing testing
Wearing mask covering face
Social distancing
Staying home in lock down
Not touching your face

All the above will combine to reduce the spread of the virus. There isn’t just one way of protecting or preventing the spread but several and non of the above are harmful