What hospitals need are N95 respirators and surgical masks. A family member of mine is a doctor at a large hospital system. They have a mask shortage and have been encouraged to use scarves and t-shirts if necessary.
Plain cotton masks would offer considerable benefits if everybody began wearing them in public. Countries in Asia, where it is common for everyone to wear masks have a lower R0 value.
Their guidance does not seem to suggest that people should not wear masks in public, nor does it comment on the effectiveness of doing so.
From their site:
If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-nCoV infection.
Wear a mask if you are coughing or sneezing.
Masks are effective only when used in combination with frequent hand-cleaning with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
If you wear a mask, then you must know how to use it and dispose of it properly.
The "masks don't help" campaign is well-intended disinformation aimed at preserving medical masks for medical practitioners.
It is now proven that people with no symptoms spread the virus. Breathing virus into a cotton sheet is obviously safer than breathing on other people, despite being far from perfect.
But using general masks to stop a virus is like wearing a volleyball net to stop gnats. (In reality, the size disparity is far more extreme than that.)
From what I have heard, a large part of the benefit is that it actively interferes with people casually, constantly and mindlessly touching their face.
Sort of like those cones we put on the necks of dogs to control some of their behavior when they have medical stuff happening.
it actively interferes with people casually, constantly and mindlessly touching their face
Oh, I absolutely agree. And I see its value as not so much "actively interfering" like a Cone of Shame but by serving as a constant reminder against touching hands to face. (Eyes are highly vulnerable but are unprotected by masks.)
I believe this 100% to be true. Considering that under certain conditions the virus can stay in the air for up to 3 hours, masks definitely are helpful.
> Considering that under certain conditions the virus can stay in the air for up to 3 hours, masks definitely are helpful.
Those conditions being using a Goldberg Drum designed to keep aerosols that can't stay airborne for as long as possible? If yes then yeah sure this virus can survive in the air for 3 hours, but that isn't normal reality. It can't stay aloft that long, it will hit a surface.
You really only need the mask if you're going out and symptomatic. Even then, as noted, leave the masks for the people that are encountering sick people daily. They need them way more than you do walking around buying groceries.
Your position is just another that has yet to catch on to the fact of asymptomatic transmission. There are countless sources indicating this is happening. Just take the time to read one.
> Your position is just another that has yet to catch on to the fact of asymptomatic transmission.
> Just take the time to read one.
This isn't my position, its from virologists. And I'll thank you to not presume I don't already know of those sources. Those aren't relating to aerosols in the air for 3 hours.
And as a note, I'm really resisting not getting pissed off at your comment which seems to presume I'm too dumb to know about asymptomatic transmission.
Perhaps you could, I don't know link to some bioarxiv sources or actual information rather than alluding to things. My comment was exclusively in regards to the virus surviving in aerosol form for 3 hours. Its a contrived environment where that can happen. Transmission in the air isn't what I am discounting. Capiche?
Actually forget about it. I'm just going to stop commenting entirely on this matter.
I think people talk past each other a lot on this issue because there's a conflation of population-level versus individual-level decision-making and benefits. The recommendation that you cite is worded for individuals; population-level benefits are simply out of scope.
That's a bit of a pipe dream. It's better for people to just stay at home as much as possible. Everyone can do that regardless of the availability of masks.
People need to stay home, but they also need to go to the grocery store, bank, or other essential activities. When they do, they should be wearing a mask.
You can make your own from a piece of clothe - there are thousands of people doing just that all over Europe, making masks for themselves, their family and friends.
