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Comment by joshuaengler | Hacker News Reader

The VAST majority of mask wearing I have seen in California has been average cloth-covers. I have only seen a handful of people out of thousands actually wearing N95 masks, so perhaps N95 is highly effective at stopping viruses, but I see basically nobody wearing that. Stores, offices, buildings, all are completely fine with you wearing a bandana over your face. There is effectively no point in even mandating mask laws unless you actually mandate the TYPE of mask that must be used. The coffee filters people are wearing over their face will do close to nothing, if not even make everything worse for their own personal health (lung issues, bacterial infections, etc.)

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>The coffee filters people are wearing over their face will do close to nothing

I'm not an expert, but I believe this is not quite accurate. As I understand it, even a piece of cloth helps prevent the spread of the virus to others. The mechanism is that the virus exits your nose/mouth in the form of macroscopic droplets that later break down into microscopic droplets a few inches from your face. A bandanna will catch the big droplets before they split apart.

I've never seen anyone wearing a coffee filter over their face. What are you talking about?

I haven't either but I did have to drive several miles out of my way a few months ago to get coffee filters at the only store in the state that seemed to have them in stock. I was told during checkout people were buying them in bulk to use as masks.

Or buying them in bulk... to make coffee? I'd assume that if people are working from home, they're also making coffee at home instead of getting it at work or on the way to work. And that would be a pretty reasonable explanation for shortages of filters that fit in home coffee makers.

I know my personal use of coffee filters went up about 10x during the pandemic. And no, they were not on my face.

I would think a paper filter filters a lot better than cloth at least. The problem is breathing through it of course (as opposed to around). I searched and see some projects on the internet where people are trying to use them. Seems like a worthwhile idea to me.

Is there some global increase in lung issues (besides covid) or bacterial infections or something?

The other thing to consider is fit. When I needed a mask for workplace safety, I had to get a fit test done - otherwise you leave massive gaps around the edge of the masks that lets unfiltered air in and out.

I think surgical masks do a good job in containing droplets from a cough or sneeze, but if there are airborne particles, I doubt they do much. A good fitting N95 probably helps in that department.

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