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Comment by glofish | Hacker News Reader

You can stop an airborne virus quite effectively with a correctly fitting mask with sufficient filtration.

It is indeed true that wearing a mask with high pressure drop for a long time can be bad for you. You could try to find one with lower pressure drop and try to mostly stay outside and not wear it so much. (Or you could wear a poorly fitting mask such that lots of air bypasses the mask, with worse results.)

I just checked the data from https://covid19.who.int/ and Austria had 93 cases per 10,000 last week where as USA had 164 cases per 10,000. Which seems like a significant difference.

I don't know if Austria mandates masks but your last sentence doesn't seem to hold up according to WHO.

I know South Korea mandates masks and they had 5 cases per 10,000 last week. :)

The case numbers are meaningless due to differences in testing rates. They don't tell us anything reliable about which strategy is more effective. The actual infection numbers are way higher because most people never get tested. The only numbers that are even somewhat comparable between countries are hospitalizations and deaths.

I checked the death rate and the same pattern arises.

Yes, Austria does, and it mandates FFP-2, which while not quite N95, is pretty close (roughly equivalent to the Korean KF94 standard - 94% filtering minimum, and they allow earloops and not just headbands, which generally fit a bit worse). Still lightyears better than cloth or a typical surgical.

Can you share the sources of your information on this?

I sympathize with your view on this, because I've heard a lot of seemingly contradictory information on this. But if we're going to sort this out, I think we need to go beyond stridently stating our individual conclusions.

I guess I can stop wearing this mask when I spray paint too, it makes it so hard for me to breathe.

Have to admit it was nice to have a ready supply of them when I was clearing my drier exhaust duct the other day...

are spray painting particles the same size as a virus? ... something to ponder

> FP2 or N95 do not work either. You can't stop an airborne virus with a mask.

Bullshit. Not even worth refuting someone so far removed from reality.

Take a look at the people who work in the types of labs this virus leaked from: they're not wearing N95 masks, they're wearing full body positive pressure suits. Not PAPRs, because even the P100 filters on those don't filter viruses, but positive positive pressure suits with air plumbed in from somewhere else.

yes this is true - prolonged exposure - like students at school - masked with anything but full body protection will probably expose everyone. I am 180 degrees from my stance 12 months ago, now that vaccines have been released and proven.

Vaccine is the only defense.

But I dont mind masks, they have a lot of ancillary benefits. I wear them when I go in stores, it costs me nothing.

Can you please share some sources that led you to this conclusion?

I don't have a settled view on this, and I'm eager to find good sources of information.

Well, I mean, i understand the size of an airborn virus particle and the effectiveness of an N95 at filtering said particle sizes.

Virus aren't magic.

My understanding is that there are relevant factors beyond just particle-size.

So I could be wrong, but I don't think we can get away with such simple reasoning.

I'd guess that over 95% of people using these masks are unable to keep a seal on the mask. I'm still capital S shocked that we have not invented some better sealing system. Every time my glasses fog up, I know that whatever "protection" I am getting is nil, especially with omicron.

The OP is not "removed from reality", they are correct. We had many ways that we could have significantly reduced transmission - e.g. moving the majority of life outdoors (outdoor classrooms, outdoor restaurants/food-carts, outdoor shopping farmer market style). No one wanted to do this at any serious scale.

We need to do things that actually stop the spread, rather than continue useless healthcare theater. Design masks that can properly seal for the majority, or they are useless. Mandate uber drivers to have their windows down during drives - Mandate airlines to not pack people like sardines (which will NEVER happen).

Don't try to take this contrarian attitude with folks like this, it just makes you look like an ass. OP is not an anti-vaxxer. OP is not trying to hurt others. OP is frustrated y the lack of efficacy of current mitigation strategies.

Masks don’t magically block humidity. In cold weather, the mere fact that a mask redirects more of your exhaled breath upwards (through the mask) can cause fogging.

But yes, most masks seem to fit very poorly indeed.

"Won't refute" is as good as "can't refute". Resorting to rude language and dismissiveness is a weak posture.

Not it isn't, I posted a link downthread showing a 5x+ reduction in infections. OP has been, not surprisingly, silent so far.

no worth refuting because you have zero evidence that they work.

All the empirical evidence (like the epidemic curves in countries that do require N95) points that they don't.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/emp2.12582

"The relative risk of 0.17 suggests that wearing an N95 respirator reduces the risk of a SARS-CoV 1 and 2 viral infection to 17% of this population wearing the surgical mask."

I'm sure doctors wear them just for show... :/

There's a difference between "doesn't do anything" and "isn't going to stop you from catching COVID eventually".

gasp... come back to earth. Of course you can, with the right fit you are basically filtering it out. What's so hard to understand

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