Anti-covid face masks

[mkenuk]

I'm surprised, reading the UK newspapers on line, that there is so much debate about whether wearing face-masks serves any useful purpose or not in the fight against covid-19..
Here in Thailand everybody wears a mask in public and, while there is no law about it, it is a fact that you won't be able to get on a bus or train or go into a supermarket, bank or any other public building without one.

Fortunately for those who live here, Thailand seems to have escaped very lightly in terms of numbers of fatalities.
Perhaps wearing face-masks is not the reason for there being so few deaths, but I can't see that it has done any harm;

it's certainly preferable to self-medicating with household bleach - or, indeed, any of the other moronic suggestions that those who should know better have come up with!


 

[pat]

From what I can make out the general opinion seems to be that face masks are most effective at protecting others from the people wearing them. Some people are wearing them, some aren't. There's a concern that if they're made compulsory there will be a shortage for the people who most need them, e.g. care workers. I suspect that once we start to move out of lockdown they may be required in the sort of places you mention, Mike. Although with our government's inept handling of the crisis, who knows?

[Dragonman]

The biggest question about face masks is where can you get them without being ripped off.

[mkenuk]

I can only speak for Thailand, but they are on sale everywhere for about 30 baht upwards - that's about one dollar US, about 75p UK.

Failing that, you can make your own.

What you make might not meet WHO standards for 'front-line' doctors and nurses, but it will serve its purpose.

[Jacki]

In Australia the medical advice from the government doctors is to not wear a mask unless you have the virus. I must say that I'm very proud of how Australians have responded and how well we are doing given the virus is so easily spread and it takes weeks before symptoms show, (if at all).
I'm very grateful I live here.

[rogue_mother]

Here in Thailand everybody wears a mask in public and, while there is no law about it, it is a fact that you won't be able to get on a bus or train or go into a supermarket, bank or any other public building without one.

My personal observation is that here, Inside the Beltway, people from Asia were already predisposed to wear face masks even before the novel coronavirus made its appearance. I have seen this for several years, particularly during our spring pollen season but at other times of the year as well. This is not saying that they all do, only that before now it has been unusual to see anyone except a person of East/Southeast Asian origin wearing a face mask in public.

Jacki, the advice from your government doctors stems from the fact which Pat referred to, that the masks mainly help prevent carriers from spreading the virus to others and does not do quite as well in protecting someone who is not infected. My problem with this is that people can have the virus and be contagious without showing symptoms. The requirement for everyone to wear a mask in public protects us from those invisible carriers. Our state's governor has required that we all wear a mask in public places like grocery stores and pharmacies, and I'm grateful for that.

[TRex]

Although with our government's inept handling of the crisis, who knows?

Compared to the federal government's response in the USA, the UK seems absolutely brilliant in its response.

[Hobbit]

My understanding was that unless they are properly fit tested masks,  the ordinary blue masks which hook around the ears offer limited protection to the wearer & those they come in close contact with.  Most of the ones I've seen have gaps at the sides & they fit very badly on men with beards.  They also are prone to sliding down the face in some folks & they get quite damp & soggy after a little while.  I have been offered a mask at work but so far have chosen not to wear one.  Quite possible the wrong choice.  I just don't know.  What does irritate me slightly is that some people wearing masks seem to think it's acceptable to ignore social distancing & get right up close & personal.  Sometimes wish I had a big stick to poke them with!

[pat]

Compared to the federal government's response in the USA, the UK seems absolutely brilliant in its response.

Can’t argue with that, TRex. Having said that, it looks as if the UK might end up with the highest death rate of any country in Europe. I guess even inept governments occasionally top the charts in something. 

[TRex]

My eldest daughter shared this with me

[mkenuk]

My personal observation is that here, Inside the Beltway, people from Asia were already predisposed to wear face masks even before the novel coronavirus made its appearance.

True; many people in Bangkok wear facemasks all year round because of the air pollution caused by the huge number of vehicles on the city's roads.

My problem with this is that people can have the virus and be contagious without showing symptoms. The requirement for everyone to wear a mask in public protects us from those invisible carriers. Our state's governor has required that we all wear a mask in public places like grocery stores and pharmacies, and I'm grateful for that.

Agreed. Very, very true. If only everybody thought this way, the death toll might not be so high.

[birdy]

Being at the epicenter (Brooklyn) of the U.S. epicenter (New York City), I've been wearing a face mask any time I go out of my apartment for the last month and a half. My first ones were homemade - a folded bandanna attached around my ears with rubber bands - simple but they work. Right now, I'm using the ones the cops in the park gave me last weekend, masks being distributed for free to anyone who wants them. Most people are wearing masks now, though it's been gradual.  And some people are still in denial and won't wear them, like the man in my building who mocked the idea - and who died, along with his mother and sister, a week or so ago.

I am staying in my apartment probably more than 95% of the time each week - well more than that, since I'm out only about 3 hours a week. The masks make me feel a little safer when I do go out, and they are required if we go out of our apartments, even just to get the mail.  And I only go out to the "senior hour" at the grocery store once a week, and to the local park once every week or two.

Do whatever you need to to stay safe, folks - the virus is no joke.

[jackieinupwey]

I have no medical background but spend my days in classrooms with many adolescents. I have reservations about the value of the mask other than in theory. Surely touching a germ-soaked item stuck over your face, which was possibly originally designed to allow for the free flow of air is riskier than not having anything stuck there. The act of touching a cloth filled with microbes of many sorts is surely fraught. I am baffled that the focus is on collecting expelled matter rather then NOT touching the face. Germs need to be transmitted. Inhalation and/or contact. We don't know for sure how or for how long we are at risk. Washing doorknobs (the current obsession) might help a little - who knows how long the virus is active on the hand or the doorknob - but once it's picked up, it can't soak through the skin. So logically, more important than washing door knobs is WASHING hands and NOT touching faces. With the excess of "information" about all this it's difficult to extract the sensible. My go to is Dr Norman Swan on the ABC (that's Australian Broadcasting).

[Hobbit]

I agree Jackie.  If you wear the standard lightweight masks then you would probably have to change it many times during the day as they get quite moist/damp.  Especially if you sneeze or cough.   Then you have the problem of where do you safely dispose of it.  You can hardly just lob it in the normal bin as that defeats the object of wearing it.    You are right about hand washing.  My receptionist colleagues & I rigorously wash our hands throughout the day & also wipe round our desks/computers etc. 

[TRex]

Just listened to Boris Johnson. Following science and the data — sure wish the Orange One (President Dump) would talk like that.