Post

Terra Novam wrote:

At this point there's so much conflicting information I don't know what to think. On one hand there's data saying wearing masks reduces the risk of spreading infection by factor 53, on the other I hear a lot about how commercial-grade just doesn't cut it and we need to be making medical-grade masks available to really make a difference. If they're good enough to contain the larger particles the impact is already great, so it's probably the former - but then again I also have to wonder for how long it'll be necessary or expected, since wearing masks regularly would also curb the annual flu epidemic (not technically an epidemic at the regular scale, but for ease of wording) and spare several tens of thousands of lives.. But can it be justified?

I wish mask-wearing was just culturally accepted like it is in much of East Asia, where a significant portion of the population dons them every flu season. Unfortunately, seems like the opposite is happening here in America.

Also wish that surgical masks and, ideally, N-95 masks were available to everyone, but supply chains make that kinda impossible. Even without that though, I definitely think any face covering, provided that everyone wears them, is still better than nothing. I'm not going to be comfortable being around other people unless they are wearing a mask, because without the mask they can be breathing/coughing directly into the air around me.