What the experts told the public about wearing a mask

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Rubbish. Contrary to all advice given by our government and scientific advisers. And who said folk who are carriers without symptoms can’t pass on the disease? That’s one of the factors that leads to spreading the virus. I’ve never seem such a collection of fake facts.
 
People who express opinions on news channels or YouTube are not necessarily experts. Might have some expertise in the area but how much is the question.

Again this is another area which the mainstream media seems only able to characterise as either good or bad.

There are benefits from mask wearing but the question is whether any gains are significant or merely marginal. My own opinion is that the gains are marginal - it might prevent somebody who is unknowingly contagious from passing it onto a random stranger in the street or supermarket. I find it hard to believe that mask wearing from day one would have knocked any sort of real dent into the infection rate or mortality figures but it is possible that it is currently preventing some transmission and if you are after marginal benefits then it has value.

Overall I find the motivation behind videos such as that in the original post, has more to do with attracting attention than providing good advice.
 
Who says they are experts? They are just voices of complaint from folk who think wearing the mask is for wimps. Meanwhile, the new President is going with real experts in disease control and about to make mask wearing compulsory.
 
Even the plague doctors knew they should wear masks! Cripes humans are regressing, I've always known this. Numpties. 🙄
 
As JVT told everyone today - listen to what the NHS is telling us - not what you read elsewhere.

As he also said if he had a problem with his CH he wouldn't consult a brain surgeon - he would ask a CH engineer.
 
Nah, the expert advice (WHO, Fauci, etc) deprecated mask wearing early on. They got it wrong. Happens!
 
The anti-maskers in that video seem to be guilty of the Appeal to Bogus Authority fallacy; just because someone is an expert, it doesn't follow that they have any expertise in the field in which they are giving their opinion. 😡
 
Easy mask test.

Light a candle.
Blow it out.

Light a candle.
Put on a mask
Blow it out.

Then tell me a mask doesn't stop the physical transmission of covid 19 over a distance.
 
Easy mask test.

Light a candle.
Blow it out.

Light a candle.
Put on a mask
Blow it out.

Then tell me a mask doesn't stop the physical transmission of covid 19 over a distance.

Your breath along with all of the moisture and any associated bacteria or virus will still be coming out of your mask almost completely unhindered through the sides otherwise you would suffocate.
Just because they are not coming out directly in the direction of the candle doesn't mean anything significant is being stopped by the mask.
Masks are largely there as a soother for the public and to let people feel they are making a difference. The actual science behind how effective they are in reality is not well developed.
 
Your breath along with all of the moisture and any associated bacteria or virus will still be coming out of your mask almost completely unhindered through the sides otherwise you would suffocate.
Just because they are not coming out directly in the direction of the candle doesn't mean anything significant is being stopped by the mask.
Masks are largely there as a soother for the public and to let people feel they are making a difference. The actual science behind how effective they are in reality is not well developed.
Or if you want to get expert opinion rather than Internet commentary it's easy enough to do so: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/masking-science-sars-cov2.html
 
Weren't those experts also? In the original post and the australian newspaper article? Which Experts are right? Can't all be right...
Expert views change,
 
Your breath along with all of the moisture and any associated bacteria or virus will still be coming out of your mask almost completely unhindered through the sides otherwise you would suffocate.
Just because they are not coming out directly in the direction of the candle doesn't mean anything significant is being stopped by the mask.
Masks are largely there as a soother for the public and to let people feel they are making a difference. The actual science behind how effective they are in reality is not well developed.
Vent direction. If you are that close to my shoulder, you aren't my problem.
 
Sigh! I just knew I would regret posting on this site again.
I'll leave you guys to it.
 
Sigh! I just knew I would regret posting on this site again.
I'll leave you guys to it.
They're just discussing the topic, you have to be able to talk things through so we can learn stuff. I'm still wearing my mask whatever, it keeps my face warm. 🙂
 
Exactly. We see peoples with masks and it reminds us to be careful. 🙂

If wearing a mask is no good why do surgeons operating wear them then? That doesn't make sense to me.
 
A guy I work with refuses to wear a mask at work saying they are useless so cough's an sneezes all over the boxes of med I then have to deliver to care homes. I have tried to explain he needs to protect me and our care homes but he is so arrogant dumb he can't see the issue and this is a pharmacy.

I always wear a mask and gloves and use lots of anti bac gel to protect others more than myself, sneezing into a mask has got to be a good way of containing the bug surely, never going to be 100% but as Ditto says "Why do surgeons wear them".
 
If wearing a mask is no good why do surgeons operating wear them then?
They presumably have better quality masks than most of us use, and are more practiced in wearing them, and (for the serious PPE) have the fit tested.

Seems obvious that while the cloth masks I use suck at catching aerosols they'll probably be OK at catching larger droplets. And they surely won't be entirely useless at reducing aerosols.

So I'd guess they're of some value, though quite likely not that big. Maybe the main benefit is reminding us all that there's an infectious disease around.

The litter the single-use ones are causing seems very problematic, and will presumably get worse if we're persuaded to double mask, or use fancier FFP2 masks.

Not sure about what should happen in schools. It doesn't seem impossible that asking children to wear masks would make them less rather than more safe (because they'd be likely to be putting them on and taking them off during the day, and perhaps contaminate them), but the government doesn't seem interested in trying to find out what would be best to do. (A simple trial ought to have been possible.)
 
Hi Ditto,

The reasons a surgeon wears a mask is not to prevent the transmission of a respiratory virus -- which is what people are currently wearing masks for.

Surgeons and nurses performing clean surgery wear disposable face masks. The purpose of face masks is two-fold: to prevent the passage of germs from the surgeon's nose and mouth into the patient's wound and to protect the surgeon's face from sprays and splashes from the patient.
A bit like stopping sprays from other people, and to stop you breathing on other people then?
A two way stopping of germs, sprays, breath, and fluid transmission?
 
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Travellor,

Why would you want to stop catching germs?

Catching germs is how we build our immunity. I'm not suggesting I'd want someone sneezing our couging directly into my face, that's down to upbringing. But wearing a mask when one is not infectious is pointless and current testing doesn't test for infectiousness so there is almost no way of knowing who is benefitting from the small amount of protection masks offer.

A surgeon wears as mask because he's working over open wounds.

As i said before, it's an un "winable" question, I have my view that masks offer little protection to others and even less to the wearer and others believe wearing a mask actually protects themselves from the virus.

NOTE: To clarify as @everydayupsanddowns has mentioned to me a few times on the forum. People tend to repsond to what I didn't say rather than what I did say. So to clarify my point above. I am not suggesting that one shouldn't wear a mask, as the law dictates. I always wear a mask because that is the law. However, that doesn't change the fact that if I am not infectious wearing a mask is pointless.

Why would you want to stop catching germs?
Do you wash your hands?

No, I do not want to "catch germs" on a totally random basis.
And what data and trials can you provide that show increased exposure to germs builds up your immune system?
And if a mask has no benefit reducing germs, how can it decrease your immunity?
That's a contradiction.
 
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