OT: How effective are masks you ask?

Submitted by maizerayz on May 6th, 2020 at 8:16 PM

I know this is OT, but just in case anyone is interested, thanks for your time.

Early on before testing and other precautions ramped up in Korea, there were 2 hospitals that both admitted patients with flu symptoms who ended up staying for multiple weeks. It was only after a week the covid19 tests came back positive for these patients.

Both hospitals were in an uproar. Covid19 patient for a week mixing with all the doctors and nurses and patients? Everything was cancelled, everyone was tested, everything was cleaned. To make things worse, multiple patients shared the room as the covid 19 positives, staying together almost 24/7.

Guess how many got infected?

Zero.

Not a single nurse, not a single doctor, not even patients in the same small room.

To further drive the point, one nurse from one of these hospitals later on that week went to a church service without a mask for 90 minutes and get infected

The only thing they did? The patients had masks on the entire time because they had flu symptoms when they were admitted.

The medical professionals concluded they prevented the spread almost completely via masking the patients. And in case you're wondering Korea has some of the best medical systems in the entire world.

The hospital? Back to full workloads, only with mandatory mask requirements. Nobody was fired or furloughed obviously.

Just google translate the following link. In case you're wondering this is one of the most conservative and highly read news sites in Korea.

https://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2020/03/25/2020032500295.html

Eng1980

May 6th, 2020 at 8:34 PM ^

I wish I had an MGoBlog account.  Damn, too slow, this  was meant to fall in two places above but then I had to log in.

 

LV Sports Bettor

May 6th, 2020 at 8:47 PM ^

Best thing about masks is.........they keep you from touching your own mouth and nose.

maizerayz

May 7th, 2020 at 1:42 AM ^

I agree with you. The problem is, people are getting shot for telling people to wear masks.

If you look at leaders in other countries, they all come on TV wearing masks or just pulling it down to talk.

Unless people see someone they respect wearing masks, nobody will.

R. J. MacReady

May 6th, 2020 at 9:19 PM ^

The virus has mutated since then and the U.S. has the more aggressive strain now.  You can’t look at a situation in a single stance without looking forward and backward for context. 

njvictor

May 6th, 2020 at 10:13 PM ^

Wearing a mask is more about protecting others than protecting yourself. Masks will catch any of the the moisture, spit, etc. that your project into the air when you cough, breath, sneeze, etc. So if everyone wears a mask, then you're protecting everyone else from yourself. And since everyone should be taking precautions and acting like we have the virus, then everyone should wear a mask

njvictor

May 6th, 2020 at 9:56 PM ^

If everyone wore masks when they went out, this whole thing would be much more under control. I'm wearing one for your safety, so you should wear one for mine. I don't care if it makes you look stupid

njvictor

May 7th, 2020 at 10:34 AM ^

If everyone wears a mask and takes precautions, then starting to reopen can become a much more viable option since it will be harder for the virus to spread, cases and outbreaks can be reduced, and hospitals can stay below capacity.

That's a big "if" though since so many people refuse to wear masks

lilpenny1316

May 6th, 2020 at 10:13 PM ^

The problem is that you have people who don't want to be forced to wear a mask because "freedom" and all.  The governor of Ohio didn't mandate it because it was a bridge too far or some BS.  And then you have fine, upstanding people in Michigan shooting a security guard and wiping their nose on a store clerk, all because they had to wear a mask.

Masks can be the solution to get us all back to work, and you'll still have people defying orders, because they don't like being told what to do.

MileHighWolverine

May 7th, 2020 at 10:15 AM ^

No snark, serious question. Where do you draw the line for what someone can make you do in the "public interest"?

Masks are easy no brainers but is there a point where you would say "no, this is too much" or is it anything goes in the name of public safety?

Again, no snark, just trying to gauge how far people (in general) are willing to go.

scfanblue

May 6th, 2020 at 11:02 PM ^

I look at it this way. If a fart can ooze through your underwear and jeans then how in the hell can a mask stop something from coming through it? 

maizerayz

May 7th, 2020 at 1:48 AM ^

I see your point.

But the masks are less about protecting yourself from others with covid19

Its more to protect others from YOU, if you have covid19.  As masks would catch most, if not all of your contaminated droplets.

Its extra critical as this fucked disease has a longer incubation period than your common flu.

MichiganStan

May 6th, 2020 at 11:19 PM ^

I actually didnt ask and a wise man once said to be skeptical if someone tries to give you answers for a question you didnt ask 

Western_

May 7th, 2020 at 12:07 AM ^

Masks weaken your immune system and everyone else around you.  You need bacteria and viruses to exercise your system.  If you self isolate and wear a mask you are at a much greater risk to get sick.  Combine that with a 0.1% mortality rate for cerveza20 (per USC) wearing a mask is harming a lot of people.

Ihatebux

May 7th, 2020 at 7:48 AM ^

Good, why don't you just find a hospital and go walk around the Covid19 ward without a mask.  It will get your immune system nice and strong.     Just thinning the herd.   

Kinda thought Michigan fans were brighter than this, but I guess you can never underestimate stupidity.

maizerayz

May 7th, 2020 at 5:00 AM ^

Great analogy. And lets assume one person can spread it to 3, those 3 spread it to another 3, and on and on. It's exponential infection.

 

But if the one person just wore a mask, and cut down the infection rate by 90%, thats an exponential saving of lives.

PackardRoadBlue

May 7th, 2020 at 6:55 AM ^

They are effective.  It’s hard to tell if someone is an MSU fan cause you can’t tell if they are mouth breathing.

Mitch Cumstein

May 7th, 2020 at 7:39 AM ^

I heard a virologist a few weeks ago on the radio talking about this, he basically said even cloth masks should help at reducing (not eliminating) C19 spread (less germs leave the source and make it to a recipient) AND when germs do make it to a recipient the viral load is typically lower. This means the recipient has more time (virus replicates in your body at a finite rate) to mount an immune response before the disease becomes a serious infection. So everyone wearing masks should lower the rate of spread and lower the average severity experienced. 
I’ve definitely been opposed to indefinite lockdowns while waiting for a vaccine and been in the pro-open camp this whole time (with calculated/rational restrictions to keep ICU capacity, protect elders, etc.), but I don’t get the resistance to wearing a mask. If wearing masks in public for the next 2 years means the economy can mostly reopen (people can go back to work) why wouldn’t everyone just do it?

True Blue Grit

May 7th, 2020 at 8:43 AM ^

I doubt the non-N95 masks are that effective in terms of screening out airborne virus molecules.  What makes the real impact is constantly cleaning your hands, not touching your face, and staying a safe distance from other people.  If the masks help do some of that, then they do have a  positive effect.  But people who wear them outdoors well away from people and buildings, it's a complete waste of time.  

TIMMMAAY

May 7th, 2020 at 8:49 AM ^

I really don't understand why everyone doesn't grasp this by now. Masks (non N-95 type) work very well, but only if everyone participates. They don't provide complete protection for YOU, but prevent YOU from spreading germs. Thus, if everyone wears them, the amount of the virus being shed in public areas is greatly reduced. It's not difficult to comprehend.