Question about Covid on surfaces and masks.

The mask is just to keep you from sneezing into someone’s mouth.

It’s impossible to take a mask on and off without one touching their face? So people touch surfaces like public door handles then immediately touch their face to take the mask off when outside. I’m not saying that it is bad to wear a mask, just trying to see if the good outweighs the bad. It seems kind of like the mask is just a solution where it makes everyone feel ok because everyone has a mask on, but are we supposed to just forget that it was drilled into our heads to not touch our face and sanitize constantly because it could be on any surface?

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That’s what it seems like. I hear constantly, “all health officials advocate wearing a mask.” But just recently, the emphasis was on hand sanitizing and not touching one’s face was the most emphasized thing. I’m seriously trying to find out what is best and what the science behind it is.

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Washing your hands and not touching your face is to help prevent YOU from getting infected. Wearing a mask is to help prevent you from infecting OTHERS.

LINK

Pence is telling people to wear masks.

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You have to touch your face more if you are wearing a mask, so obviously it’s a trade off, but which one is more important?

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I can promise you, that if you put a mask on you touch your face less. I don't wear one often, but at work I have to some times and it alters your habit of touching your face.

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You have to touch your face more if you are wearing a mask, so obviously it’s a trade off, but which one is more important?

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Like I said it depends on the individual. If you act like your mask is perfect prevention and stop washing your hands like we should anyway, then you're going to do more harm than good. But it seems very likely that a mask and hand-washing in combination is more effective than doing neither or either alone.

From the CDC:

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It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes. This is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads, but we are still learning more about how this virus spreads.

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Personally, I find it very unlikely that the virus is transmitted frequently from surface touching. Someone with the virus would have to cough/sneeze on his/her hand, touch a surface, and transmit enough of the virus to that surface. Then, someone else has to come along fairly quickly and touch the exact same spot on that surface then quickly transmit it to his/her mouth, nose, or eyes. It's much more likely that people are getting this virus from being in close contact with infected people.

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Pence is telling people to wear masks.

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Only where businesses require it.

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Personally, I find it very unlikely that the virus is transmitted frequently from surface touching. Someone with the virus would have to cough/sneeze on his/her hand, touch a surface, and transmit enough of the virus to that surface. Then, someone else has to come along fairly quickly and touch the exact same spot on that surface then quickly transmit it to his/her mouth, nose, or eyes. It's much more likely that people are getting this virus from being in close contact with infected people.

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Agreed

These people getting it from going to family parties, etc aren’t getting it because it was on Aunt Edna’s countertops where the party was. They are getting it because they were in close proximity to several people for an extended period of time. When you are talking, laughing, etc that close to others....you are spreading it.