countries that wear face masks...

[jobhunter7]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8189085/Countries-public-face-mask-wearing-advised-lower-rates-coronavirus-infections.html

Do some homework, this remains controversial

surely they are better than nothing...

China's rates are as reliable as China usually is ... not very

Japan was hoping to get the go ahead for the Olympics, so invested in proving rates were low.

South Korea I believe, but they were very strict on contact tracing and quarantining

I would say evidence from countries case rates is worth at least as much as evidence from laboratory tests. It seems to me that lab tests have focused on how effective masks are on preventing viruses getting in, and have not been as concerned about how effective they are at preventing viruses getting out. Given that we know Covid-19 thrives on asymptomatic spread, I think that using masks to protect the community at large is much more important than using them to protect us as individuals.

Given that we know Covid-19 thrives on asymptomatic spread, I think that using masks to protect the community at large is much more important than using them to protect us as individuals.

Of course.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8182359/ALL-New-Yorkers-told-cover-mouth-nose-homemade-cloth-masks-outside.html

I'm in US and made my first mask from cloth yesterday. Need to sew a few more for other members of my family. It is advised now to wear one here to prevent asymptomatic spread to others. I hear the downsides (might feel invincible, let guard down, encourages face touching) but with that in mind I intend to wear one next time I go to get food as it's impossible to maintain distance in the supermarket

A bit inaccurate but it makes the point. Countries that have experience in fighting SARS, MERS etc know that masks work. We know they work in the West because our healthcare workers are crying out for them. The main reason they are discouraged by public health officials in Western countries is because they want to avoid shortages for healthcare workers rather than having everyone in the general public wearing them. But as the Asian experience shows, if you encourage people to wear masks and cut down the rates of infection and hospitalisation, healthcare workers don't need as many masks as their hospitals don't get overwhelmed with COVID patients

a scarf or bandana is probably better than nothing...

maybe the government could have a 'dig for victory' type campaign to encourage people to make their own...