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Mask wearing most effective public health measure to tackle Covid

Started by Fambo Number Mive, November 18, 2021, 01:08:34 PM

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Fambo Number Mive

Something to show any anti-maskers you know.

QuoteMask-wearing is the single most effective public health measure at tackling Covid, reducing incidence by 53%, the first global study of its kind shows.

Vaccines are safe and effective and saving lives around the world. But most do not confer 100% protection, most countries have not vaccinated everyone, and it is not yet known if jabs will prevent future transmission of emerging coronavirus variants.

Globally, Covid cases exceeded 250 million this month. The virus is still infecting 50 million people worldwide every 90 days due to the highly transmissible Delta variant, with thousands dying each day.

Now a systematic review and meta analysis of non-pharmaceutical interventions has found for the first time that mask wearing, social distancing and handwashing are all effective measures at curbing cases – with mask wearing the most effective.

"This systematic review and meta analysis suggests that several personal protective and social measures, including handwashing, mask wearing, and physical distancing are associated with reductions in the incidence of Covid-19," the researchers wrote in The BMJ...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/17/wearing-masks-single-most-effective-way-to-tackle-covid-study-finds

I'm sure many anti-maskers will find a way to poo poo this study though.

Bernice

Larry David fainting etc.

It is remarkable to me that this entirely unobtrusive measure became such a wedge issue. Vaccines I at least get on the level of bodily autonomy, on the notion of a foreign substance you know little about being mainlined into your claret pipes. Wearing a fucking mask on the bus or in the shop is fucking nothing, though. How did this become the line between liberty and tyranny?


MojoJojo

It's a big signalling thing. You can be antivax and most people won't know, but if you don't wear a mask everyone on the bus knows. So people get in the mindset of defending themselves.

It's why I was ok-ish with mask wearing not being compulsory. But that's when the evidence for effectiveness was low, and the main argument for them was low cost.

Attila

I hardly encounter anyone with a mask anymore -- maybe 10% of the people on my train commute, and very few students, if any, in class. I'm one of the few people I see, and I get 'looks'.

Dreading going out to the US in January because I'll be stuck in Florida-land for two weeks (first through Orlando, then out in the middle of the panhandle.)

flotemysost

Quote from: MojoJojo on November 19, 2021, 12:20:31 AMIt's a big signalling thing. You can be antivax and most people won't know, but if you don't wear a mask everyone on the bus knows. So people get in the mindset of defending themselves.

It's why I was ok-ish with mask wearing not being compulsory. But that's when the evidence for effectiveness was low, and the main argument for them was low cost.

What bothers me is the fact that loads of people still think the wearer is mainly doing so to protect themselves rather than others, thus adopting a "you do you"/"my body, my choice" type attitude, and thinking they don't need to bother wearing one because anyone who's still "scared" will be wearing one anyway (when in actual fact I'm pretty much arsed about getting ill myself, would be very very surprised if I've not come into contact with it by now, but I really really don't want to make anyone else ill and/or anxious).

I do try to be mindful of the fact there are loads of reasons why some people find them difficult or unpleasant to wear, and I know I'm lucky that I don't need to wear them all day for work, but aside from the fact they smudge my makeup a bit I'd gladly wear them for as long as I need to - god knows after 18 months of staring at my grainy gormless fizzog on fucking Zoom/Teams calls I could do with a break from seeing my hideous face for a bit.

I did buy some cheap disposable blue ones recently and one of them had a dead fly visibly sandwiched between the layers, so that was nice.

Kankurette

Quote from: Bernice on November 18, 2021, 07:33:27 PMLarry David fainting etc.

It is remarkable to me that this entirely unobtrusive measure became such a wedge issue. Vaccines I at least get on the level of bodily autonomy, on the notion of a foreign substance you know little about being mainlined into your claret pipes. Wearing a fucking mask on the bus or in the shop is fucking nothing, though. How did this become the line between liberty and tyranny?
You wouldn't believe the amount of people who suddenly claim it triggers their anxiety or whatever. I know there are people with genuine reasons to not wear them but I am cynical just how many of them there really are out there.

On a personal note, I wear one because I hate my face.

Dusty Substance


I was in Morrison's earlier and only about one third of customers were wearing masks while two thirds of customers are still pretty cool.

mothman

Weird. I chanced to go into a Morrisons the other day and was dreading it, frankly - I remember what it's been like before - but I think I only saw one adult not wearing a mask.

vanilla.coffee

I wonder how many wear the same mask all day?
Are people carrying a stash of them and changing them regularly throughout the day?
Or are the majority wearing the same mask all day long?

I'll admit I'm sometimes guilty of the above. I'm told that my one mask has become useless after 30 mins.


Fambo Number Mive

Useless after 30 mins? Where did you hear this?

You could always double mask if you are concerned - wear a cloth mask over a disposable mask.

wooders1978

Maybe they, work, maybe they don't
We need to address the disposable mask issue urgently however

MojoJojo

What is the disposable mask issue?

And the op seems to be provide good evidence they do work

jobotic

Why would they not work all day? They're for stopping breath particles aren't they? I have four reusable washable ones but I only take one out with me

Pranet

I hate to say it but the study in the OP has been given a bit of a kicking-iirc the studies in the meta analysis that resulted in the high figure are either poor quality or involved a low number of people.

The current consensus apparently is that the reduction is more in the 10-20% range. But this is reduction in infections of the wearer. Obviously another benefit of mask wearing is that someone who is wearing a mask is less likely to infection other people. So still worth wearing them.

All this is from memory so feel free to take it with a pinch of salt.

There was a More or Less on this study- less than 10 minutes long if anyone feels inclined to check my memory.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0b7zzdr


God knows where the idea they are only effective for 30 minutes comes from. Surgeons, for example, wear them much longer than that.

wooders1978

Quote from: MojoJojo on December 14, 2021, 09:11:18 AMWhat is the disposable mask issue?

And the op seems to be provide good evidence they do work

Their impact on the environment old bean

MojoJojo


An tSaoi

Disposable masks are the new fag butts.

But the reusable ones are a pain. I find they tend to shrink in the wash.

Fambo Number Mive

Quote from: wooders1978 on December 14, 2021, 08:48:12 AMMaybe they, work, maybe they don't
We need to address the disposable mask issue urgently however

Not sure there is much that can be done to prevent people dropping disposable masks on the ground, given how people in England seem content to litter on a regular basis.

Jollity

I've seen reusable ones on the ground too, suggesting to me that some people just aren't being careful with them in their pockets. Do remember to make sure your mask isn't falling out before you start running for the bus, or whatever (actually, if you're going to catch a bus, it's probably more practical to put it on your face before going to the stop, rather than being the person fiddling with it and trying to get on the bus at the same time).

On another website, someone is saying that cloth masks are useless, and you need to get either proper N95 ones, or a proper respirator of the sort people use when working around toxic fumes. This makes me anxious in so many ways - not least because I have enough worries about money as it is.

nugget

Cloth masks are not useless, they will remove a proportion of the particles that pass through them, which makes them somewhat useful, but (obviously) they're not going to be as good as FFP2/N95 masks that are designed to filter out 94% of particles. If the cost of buying and replacing FFP2 masks is an issue, then a multi-layer cloth mask that can be thrown in the washing machine seems like a reasonable compromise, especially if you're just going to the supermarket or wherever, and can keep a reasonable distance from people. If I was going to be travelling on a train or a plane though, I'd definitely want to have something better.

I've tended to only wear FFP2 masks for quite a while now, since only FFP or surgical masks are allowed on public transport, etc., here, so you very rarely see cloth masks. This actually makes cloth masks seem like a relic from the early period of the pandemic to me, when PPE was scarce and people resorted to hand-made cloth masks out of fear and necessity. Good times...

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

I had been wondering whether it would be a good idea to get a respirator from B&Q. The small in and out valves seem like they would limit the passage of viral particles more than a cloth mask. The hard plastic also seems like it would be quicker to sterilise.

Plus, I could stick some tubes on it, put on a funny voice and pretend I'm Tom Hardy in that Batman film.

I've got this far with cloth masks (although, who knows how much of that is just luck?). I found it a bit worrisome that they always leave a gap either side of my nose, so I made a thing from a piece of wire and a rubber band, to press them to my face.

vanilla.coffee

The cloth mask seems to have become a fashion accessory for various types where I live.
They sell them in my local garden centre, all sorts of colours and patterns. Not sure what medical tests were applied to sign them off as protection from viruses.

MojoJojo

Quote from: Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth on December 14, 2021, 06:53:07 PMI had been wondering whether it would be a good idea to get a respirator from B&Q. The small in and out valves seem like they would limit the passage of viral particles more than a cloth mask. The hard plastic also seems like it would be quicker to sterilise.

They're designed to stop you breathing dust in, and don't filter what you breathe out at all. And that's where masks help stop transmission the most.

flotemysost

Quote from: Fambo Number Mive on December 14, 2021, 08:08:51 AMUseless after 30 mins?

I like my masks how I like my men...

Yeah I bought a 50-pack of disposables from the market the other day and they were disappointingly flimsy on opening, so I've been doubling up. Probably not very green, but considering how I've been ragging the LFTs to fuck that's probably the least of my sins.

Where do you lot carry your masks when you're not wearing them (as in, when you're out)? I always fold them into a (clean) pocket, but loads of my friends just put them in their bag or wallet rubbing alongside their keys and change or whatever - surely that's just a bit grim to have smothering your face afterwards, not even from a covid perspective?

Tbf last year I went for a run in an outfit with no pockets, so I stuffed my mask into my sports bra. That was an unpleasant journey home.

Fambo Number Mive

I bought a load of sandwich bags and use those. Each time  I am going somewhere where I will need a mask, I put it in the sandwich bag to carry it with me in my reusable bag and then once I've put it on and been to the place where I needs mask, I can take it off and put it back in the sandwich bag once I've  within walking distance of my house meaning it's not directly touching anything aside from the sandwich bag. Carry hand sanitizer with me to wipe my hands once I've taken the mask off.

Once I get in I bin the disposable mask and the sandwich bag and wash the reusable mask.

This does mean I use a lot of sandwich bags. I find the ones with a plastic zip are best, but they cost a bit of money.