re: If wearing a Mask keeps Covid from being transmitted, why are we shut down?

models, models, models - fake news
beds, beds, beds - fake news
vents, vents, vents - fake news
social distancing - fake news
stay at home - fake news
testing, testing, testing - fake news
masks, masks, masks - fake news
flattening the curve - fake news

fake, fake, fake, fake... questions?

This is the best post I've seen that's sums up cv 19.

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Outdoor church should be the summer norm. Outdoor restaurant seating should be the summer norm.

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Where do you live where this is possible?

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If wearing a Mask keeps Covid from being transmitted

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They don't. But they do lower the risk.

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why are we shut down?

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Different question. We should not be at this stage, not even in NYC. We should proceed straightaway to the Swedish model. Everything should be open with distancing, cleaning precautions.

We have caught up enough to avoid overwhelming medical facilities. That was the single concern driving the shutdown. So at this stage the shutdown makes no sense.

To add to the pee on leg post upthread, what I think most people aren't thinking about is that—being that this is a virus that our immune systems haven't seen before—the amount of exposure you get when first exposed makes a big difference.

Just making numbers up, let's say someone with the virus on their hand touches a doorknob and leaves 1000 virus-laden particles on it. I touch it, then touch my face because I'm wearing a mask I'm constantly having to adjust (yeah, even though I'm writing this post, I'm still not convinced the risk is worth the reward), and 200 of those particles get in my eye or my mouth or my nose.

My immune system detects those particles and goes to work. T cells recognize the virus and they and NK cells release cytotoxic material to kill the virus cells and contain the infection, and antibodies form as the system begins to create a profile of the virus so that the antibodies can kill the virus without it even infecting cells.

200 particles? No problem. The immune system can contain that invasion without being overwhelmed.

But let's say that someone sneezes or coughs on that same doorknob and instead of it having 1000 particles on it, it has 100,000,000. So when I touch my face because I'm wearing a damn mask that I have to adjust 300 times a day, now I've transferred 100,000 particles instead of 200.

That's a whole different fight for the immune system. Some of those virus cells are much more likely to make it into host cells without being contained, and then the body doesn't recognize them. Not right away, anyway, since this is a novel virus.

The point being, exposure to the virus isn't a binary situation. Going back to the pee analogy, it's the difference between someone shaking off at the urinal and flipping a few drops on your leg vs. someone emptying the entire contents of a Big Gulp on your leg in a continuous stream for 45 seconds.

Masks? I think it's a wash. I do think they reduce contaminant spread around. I also think they make it more likely for the wearer to infect themselves.

If we make it to flu season in the fall, are we going to quarantine everything again?

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Those are not the only two options.

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They are definitely the only two options in the question that I posed to satisfy my curiosity. I'ask that question to understand the level of commitment to masking. Just seems like a weird hill to maybe literally die or perhaps kill on.

But more broadly, you are correct. The Germans managed to get back to some semblance of society with lots of targeted tests relatively early in the spread of the disease in that country, the S. Koreans did hard core contact tracing, the Chinese locked things down in a far more thoroughly than we have ever considered, Taiwan effectively merged the operations of their entire healthcare delivery system, all the Asian countries universally mask. So yeah, there are a number of levers to pull, many in combination with each other. Notably, all of those countries are doing better than us. There are more cases in Iowa than their are in S. Korea. And nevertheless, we're looking to re-open.

One of our problems is that we don't have a strategy for re-opening our society. Many folks on this board, as best I can tell are of the belief we should just do it and see what happens.

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If they work, WHY are we shut down. Just have people wear them to work. - If they don't... why are you forcing people to wear them? Why are DRs and Nurses wearing them...

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Depends on how you identify “work”.

Most masks are not guaranteed to stop a viral particle. Only N95 do.

But.... wearing a does provide a barrier that can restrict how far they go when you breathe or cough. They also keep your hands away from your mouth.

So they do blunt the ability for the virus to transmit across distance in open air.

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Either they work or they don't.

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They work to reduce transmission, not eliminate it

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Can we just have a common sense talk.

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We should be open, but some of these ridiculous takes on masks around here are almost as bad as the idiots keeping us shut down

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Seems like you are saying things that are in opposition to each other. I mean, which do you want more, to have society be relatively open again or to not have to wear a mask? I ask that in the spirit of true curiosity.

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It's been stated that wearing a mask is for the benefit of others, not the individual wearing the mask.

If you are a relatively healthy individual and catch the virus, you will get sick and you will get over it.

If your medical condition is so severe that you could die from catching, then don't leave your house.

Healthy individuals do not need to be quarantined. The fear of catching this virus has been equated with immediate death by the media and everyone who is unnecessarily freaking out.

We don't treat the flu this way. You could very well die from the flu if you catch it, yet you don't see people out wearing masks or staying home in the numbers you see now, during flu season.

It makes zero sense. This "fear" is 100% politically motivated.

Masks are unnecessary as has been this entire quarantine.