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Comment by mark_l_watson | Hacker News Reader

I thought that it was accepted that the main benefit was in protecting other people. I wear a mask and a transparent face shield together. I believe that this combination offers me some protection and a lot of protection for people near me, so it seems like an obvious thing to do.

BTW, I find cloth masks not so comfortable, but the plastic face shield is no real additional discomfort at all.

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I can't find a source right now but I remember reading that people were more likely to wear a mask if they think it protects themselves rather than those around you, so there's some humanitarian value in pushing that narrative even if it's not technically true.

I appreciate the intention, but this is the sort of approach that leads to a long-term distrust of what 'the scientists' say - if we let politicians dictate the scientific message and consensus, then there's no room to criticize when the scientific message gets politicized and ignored.

There are studies that show a mask is effective in protecting the wearer. The one I can immediately remember is https://www.freep.com/story/news/health/2020/11/16/beaumont-...

Do you also handle your mask and other PPE like this? [0] From the comments the even the linked video is not perfect. This is the problem with the public advice, humans are imperfect and will always be, maybe our kids will be better due to growing up with them. Hopefully the masks have some positive effect at least.

There's never been a question about medical settings.

[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUo5O1JmLH0

In comparison with conspiracy theories, populism, outrage culture, and people getting their news from facebook, I'm pretty sure this is a drop in the ocean when it comes to distrust of scientists.

Also, let's assume the facts are that masks are 5-10% effective in protecting the wearer. The phrases "masks can protect you" or "masks have little effect in protecting you" are both true from a scientific point of view, agree? I don't think it's a good idea to push fake statistics or cherry-pick studies, but I do prefer the former phrasing from a political and humanitarian point of view.

EDIT: former, not latter :)

You mean the first phrasing, not the latter, do you?

Yeah - thanks!

Technically wearing a mask helps "protect themselves" by second order effects.

We should never encourage lying or deceiving people (pushing not technically true narratives). This just erodes trust in society.

That is an absolutely horrible idea, and is exactly what fuels widespread mistrust of public health initiatives.

Tell the damn truth. If something is uncertain, tell the damn truth about how uncertain it is.

A more honest narrative is to shame people not wearing masks as selfish irresponsible dunces.

I agree that would be honest, but I also think it's less effective.

Yes, wearing a mask doesn't protect you against infection from droplets in your eye. And aerosols tend to shrink a bit through evaporation between when they might be exhaled and someone else inhales them. So there's some asymmetry between masks protecting yourself and protecting other, but it isn't clear how much.

Yep, they're there to prevent spreading germs to others.

Surgeons don't wear them to protect themselves from the patient, but so they don't breathe over their open body.

Did that need a study?

For me the discomfort is really about my glasses that get fogged.

It is much better with the FFP-3 masks than with the typical surgical ones.

Glasses don’t get as fogged if you have a surgical mask with a metal wire for the nose clamp. Fits better than a plastic insert and does not let air shoot out the top into your eyes when you exhale.

You must have a very straight nose. Definitely not the case for me even with metal-souled surgicals - anything but FFP3 masks (with soft material over the nose for a tight seal) results in foggy glasses. To limit the effect with surgicals, I have to drag the clamp so much upwards that the mask is literally under my eyelids.

I saw some doctor using a band-aid on the nose to prevent the fogging of his glasses. Don't know how well that works, it hit the frontpage of reddit iirc.

I recently learned that a microfiber cloth (resealed in a ziploc bag between applications) helps a lot with the fogging.

I also thought this was already general consensus. I.e. that face masks are used to prevent you from spreading disease, if you are infected but without symptoms.

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