Wouldn't that prevent most infections and allow us to keep the economy going?
And wouldn't that be orders of magnitude cheaper than the > $1T being spent globally on bailouts, stimulus and QE (which, of course, still doesn't address the underlying pandemic problem).
Masks give a false sense of protection for ordinary people without education about the correct usage. Most of the masks are used wrong and they do not protect eyes (which are touched frequently) nor hands (you‘d need to wear gloves as well, but putting them off without potential cross-infection is even more complicate for untrained people). Masks need to be changed frequently (else they even collect more potential infected material), used masks need to be disposed safely. According to some experts, using a mask in the wrong way and too long even makes it more likely to get infected. As others have pointed out, masks can lead to touching your face more often if the mask feels uncomfortable. And there are simply not enough masks available and the current production is needed for medical staff. And have a look at videos from China and SG: Most people do not use FFP3 / N95 rated masks but simpler ones not really giving full protection for COVID-19.
All that changed my view as masks for everybody. Of course, you should definitely use a mask during every human contact if you have symptoms or are worried you could be infected yourself.
Even if the basic instruction of 'don't touch the front' is ignored, they still reduce exposure. The contaminants stuck to the surface of the mask are less dangerous on the mask (even if you touch it), than on your face or in your lungs. Even if the mask is changed infrequently and reused. Viruses on droplets stuck to the mask are dying remember, and hastened by just sunlight. Or a washing machine for cloth masks or improvised masks like scarves. And personally I found wearing masks to reduce face touching, as they serve as a reminder and reduce tickles like hair brushing your face.
I'd much rather be surrounded by people reducing their chance of being infected, even if 'ordinary people' incapable of following basic instruction and completely lacking common sense. Reduced exposure means slower transmission and fewer people infected at any one time.
I'm too amazed by the magnitude of the measures that are being taken as opposed to less invasive and technical solutions.
Adding other stupid questions: - why we can't just decide to test everybody - what's the bottleneck ? - why we can't just produce the n95 respirators in sufficient quantites and distribute free of charge to everybody - not even making it mandatory to wear in public - if enough people wear it, the virus won't spread
Someone with more knowledge could expand on this, but I understand that wearing a mask in south east Asia is a social signal that the wearer is aware that they are contagious and are using the mask not for their own protection, but for those around them. This makes sense with surgical masks that are designed to keep things _in_ not out.
Culturally this is counterintuitive to the west where we typically value the individual over the collective. (Probably an over-broad generalization)
I don't think it would. People would intentionally or unintentionally take off their mask, sneeze on their hands and then touch surfaces, shake hands, prepare food, etc.
As far as throwing money at the problem goes, the most cost effective might be to test everyone periodically, and not fight blind. But that's impractical too.
Assuming you're referring to the US federal government, them forcing its entire population to wear an article of clothing or use a medical device (whichever way you choose to view it) would be an unprecedented breach of civil rights - not that breaches of civil rights with precedents are any more legitimate.
A passage:
I now conclude, and turn to you, signior,
And force you to confess, against your will,
The Greatest Good will be all clothes to abhor.
Think, if you please, of happy times gone by and
Of times when malice and deceit were still unknown,
And things under the stars went hand in hand;
You will then see that, not only when alone,
But all the time, in rain and weather fair
Man went unclothed, both young and fully grown.
Nothing at all, no knickers did they wear,
So that, what good there was, but also what of bad,
Was well exposed, out in the open air.
Over here, existing manufactures are tripling production (3 shifts instead of 1). I've heard very high numbers, but useless since the delivery time frames were not mentioned.
I agree this seems like something that should be enacted to reduce the spread
Don't give them a false shield that emboldens their actions. Keep them indoors.
It's too late for that in EU/US though. All of our governments screwed up the initial response in January.
SG/TW/SK learned from SARS 17 years ago, we didn't.