Info Value of Masks and other factors to lower Covid-19 Risk while Traveling

[Boarderguy]

To the two trolls on this thread: it doesn’t count when this is your idea of mask wearing:
#chin diaper

First off you should look up what trolling is. Just because we have differing opinions doesn't mean that they are posted to enflame nor disparage. Secondly, when the majority of sheep are wearing a disposable or cloth mask with their nose exposed because they can breath that way then the entire reason for them is completely disregarded. When a man has a full beard (myself) then there is no way to properly seal one's exhale so they are again far reduced in effectiveness. The masks don't work as worn by most people because they don't create that perfect seal.

Statistically this is not true. People wearing proper masks (FFP2, or, as me, FFP3), who wear them in a perfectly airtight way (which requires some training), and who get boosted at recommended intervals (I just got my 4th Pfizer shot), have shown a significantly much lower rate of infections and hospitalizations.
So these measures do work, although not providing a 100% protection. Probably they lower the risk "just" by a factor 4 or 5, which indeed is a very good result, for me. Definitely worth the small additional cost of an FFP3 top-quality mask, and the 30s required for air-tighting it properly. The shots are free and have no drawbacks, so not getting them appeared stupid to me.
Then I respect the opinion of people who choose to take higher risks in their life. What I do not respect is the attempt of a small percentage of people to convince ME to take the same risks, which instead I prefer to avoid.
Mandatory obbligations often do not work, as they are not applied properly by most people, exactly because they are mandatory.
In my opinion there was no need to make masks mandatory: if people had been informed and trained as me (a firefighter), then people had known the big benefits of an high quality respirator mask, worn properly, and had decided to use them voluntarily.
Of course it would have been advantageous to provide FFP2 or even FFP3 masks for free to everyone.

1) How many "vaccinated" (vaccines by definition prevent infection and these shots do not) are walking around as asymptomatic carriers. I can tell you that without regular testing of the population that there is no easy to have accurate data to support saying the infections are lower. The severity may be lessened, but not the infection rate.
2) Nobody here is telling you to stop your own preventative measures. If you feel more comfortable wearing a properly fitted mask and getting a shot that has zero long term data then go ahead. That is the greatness of personal freedoms. I don't care if my neighbors wear masks and get shots or not. Their choice, not mine.
3) I'm a Marine Corps veteran and was part of my base CBRN response team. A mask (properly fitted) will do nothing substantial for airborne attacks. You need to have an airtight seal (accomplished via a rubber seal fully around the mouth and nose) to prevent intrusion. That sealed area also needs enough positive pressure venting to prevent breaking the seal and again exposing yourself to airborne particles. Testing this is easy. Wear your mask and have someone use pepper spray near (not at or on) you. You'll be choking on that faster than you realize. Covid particles are smaller than the pepper spray and will gain access to your respiratory system just as easily.
4) Like I said before, you do what you feel is best for you and be safe.

 

[tursiops]

First off you should look up what trolling is. Just because we have differing opinions doesn't mean that they are posted to enflame nor disparage. Secondly, when the majority of sheep are wearing a disposable or cloth mask with their nose exposed because they can breath that way then the entire reason for them is completely disregarded. When a man has a full beard (myself) then there is no way to properly seal one's exhale so they are again far reduced in effectiveness. The masks don't work as worn by most people because they don't create that perfect seal.

1) How many "vaccinated" (vaccines by definition prevent infection and these shots do not) are walking around as asymptomatic carriers. I can tell you that without regular testing of the population that there is no easy to have accurate data to support saying the infections are lower. The severity may be lessened, but not the infection rate.
2) Nobody here is telling you to stop your own preventative measures. If you feel more comfortable wearing a properly fitted mask and getting a shot that has zero long term data then go ahead. That is the greatness of personal freedoms. I don't care if my neighbors wear masks and get shots or not. Their choice, not mine.
3) I'm a Marine Corps veteran and was part of my base CBRN response team. A mask (properly fitted) will do nothing substantial for airborne attacks. You need to have an airtight seal (accomplished via a rubber seal fully around the mouth and nose) to prevent intrusion. That sealed area also needs enough positive pressure venting to prevent breaking the seal and again exposing yourself to airborne particles. Testing this is easy. Wear your mask and have someone use pepper spray near (not at or on) you. You'll be choking on that faster than you realize. Covid particles are smaller than the pepper spray and will gain access to your respiratory system just as easily.
4) Like I said before, you do what you feel is best for you and be safe.

Once again, you refuse to acknowledge that some protection is better than no protection (you argue that unless the mask is perfect, why bother?), and use strawman arguments (CBRN) to make your case. You may not be a troll, but that is what trolls do.

Think of the mask as like a seat belt; it does not prevent the car accident, but it lessens the risk of serious injury. Or, perhaps you refuse to wear a seat belt as a violation of your personal freedoms?

And, once again, in a thread that started by saying masks were a minor help in a study that looked at various ways to lower one's risk of infection, the wildly negative comments are all about masks and personal freedoms. Any excuse to thump one's chest, I guess.

Thank you for your service.

 

[Centrals]

3) I'm a Marine Corps veteran and was part of my base CBRN response team. A mask (properly fitted) will do nothing substantial for airborne attacks. You need to have an airtight seal (accomplished via a rubber seal fully around the mouth and nose) to prevent intrusion. That sealed area also needs enough positive pressure venting to prevent breaking the seal and again exposing yourself to airborne particles. Testing this is easy. Wear your mask and have someone use pepper spray near (not at or on) you. You'll be choking on that faster than you realize. Covid particles are smaller than the pepper spray and will gain access to your respiratory system just as easily.

Virus does not travel freely. It needs an vehicle to carry it. Gas molecule is different.

Transmission of COVID-19 virus by droplets and aerosols: A critical review on the unresolved dichotomy

The practice of social distancing and wearing masks has been popular worldwide in combating the contraction of COVID-19. Undeniably, although such practices help control the COVID-19 pandemic to a greater extent, the complete control of virus-laden droplet ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Use of Surgical Masks in the Operating Room: A Review of the Clinical Effectiveness and Guidelines [Internet] - PubMed

Postoperative wound infections increase length of hospital stay, cost of care, and morbidity. Infections occurring in a wound created by an invasive surgical procedure are referred to as surgical site infections (SSIs). SSIs account for a significant fraction of health care associated...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Interesting article.

 

[Boarderguy]

Once again you're missing the other points I've made. If you're "vaccinated" or have had the covid-cold already then your chances of getting ill are already significantly reduced. The current flavor of covid for a healthy individual is on par with a hangover. You feel like crap for 1 day and then have a lingering sore throat for a few days. All these mitigating measures are being touted as an end all for something that will NEVER go away just like the flu. I've had worse flu infections and hangovers (when I was still drinking) than when I had covid 3 months ago. Look at the risk reward for all these protective measures that are being taken for something that only requires a few days to get over. If it were ebola or small pox which cause death at a very high rate then I would agree that safety precautions are necessary. However covid is neither deadly (for 99.999% of infections nor does it have long lasting or permanent affects on 99.999% of those infected.

A seat belt prevents greater bodily harm in an accident. A mask doesn't prevent greater bodily harm with an infection. It may reduce the off chance of getting it in the briefest of passing but on my opinion the discomfort isn't worth it for my safety. Wear one to protect yourself. Be safe

 

[tursiops]

"vaccinated"

Why the quotes? This suggests you do not think vaccinations are real.

covid-cold

The sickness from covid is not a cold. Some symptoms may be similar. By saying this you are trying to hedge the truth.

All these mitigating measures are being touted as an end all

No, the various measures are partial mitigations only...they lessen the infection risk. NONE of them are touted as the 100% answer. There is no silver bullet except in comic books. The key is a layered defense; for example distancing, ventilation, and masks. None of them are perfect; together they help. Two of them help (in general) more than one of them. The OP article tries to prioritize which defense help the most. Masks are way down the list....but still on the list because they still help.

I've had worse flu infections and hangovers (when I was still drinking) than when I had covid 3 months ago.

Personal experience is pretty much irrelevant.

A mask doesn't prevent greater bodily harm with an infection

The data say that you can get less of an infection load and thus less harm....if the mask has limitjed the infection load.

It may reduce the off chance of getting it in the briefest of passing but on my opinion the discomfort isn't worth it for my safety.

Now we get to the your point; that is a choice each of us has to make.

Wear one to protect yourself.

And please wear one to protect others (in close quarters with poor ventilation) since you may be asymptomatic yet carrying and spreading the virus.

 

[Boarderguy]

The sickness is very similar to a flu/cold combo from everyone I've spoken to that has had the latest flavor of it. All of my coworkers, my immediate family (wife and 2 kids), coworkers families and my extended family. We've all had it in the last 6 months and it is literally just a nuisance. My family that got the first wave and/or the alpha variant were hit very hard and a couple were hospitalized because of it. I've lost family because of complications that were exacerbated by covid. Unhealthy individuals that died because covid caused their underlying health problems to multiply on top of the covid damage to their lungs. I get it, the first variants were bad.

The vaccines are not truly vaccines by definition. My small pox vax that I got before deploying overseas is real. The anthrax series I got, also real. The shot series for covid does not prevent infection nor transmission, this not a vaccine. It is a preventative treatment that reduces (by all accounts) the affects of infection. It also increases the likelihood of an asymptomatic carrier further passing along this nuisance.

We cannot as a society continue to hobble the economy or trample on individual rights because a very small percentage are unable to get an affective shot. They and their immediate support should wear a mask properly to protect their diminished immune systems. The rest of us should continue to move forward.

 

[tursiops]

The vaccines are not truly vaccines by definition.

Most would disagree, including the medical experts.

trample on individual rights

Your politics are showing.

 

[Boarderguy]

Most would disagree, including the medical experts.

Your politics are showing.

All vaccine definitions up until 18 months ago stated that it provided immunity from whatever the individual was being inoculated against. Recently the broader definition has included the word treatment. All specific vaccines with the exception of covid state immunity from it. So, the medical experts do not disagree with the exception of Father Fauci who was actively changing definitions and data interpretation to suite the current narratives.

I wear my conservative constitution loving feelings on my sleeve. Hence me serving my country that I love to ensure the fight is never on our shores.

Be safe friend. I'll continue to be a friendly face in the crowd you can always rely on.

 

[tursiops]

All vaccine definitions up until 18 months ago stated that it provided immunity from whatever the individual was being inoculated against. Recently the broader definition has included the word treatment. All specific vaccines with the exception of covid state immunity from it. So, the medical experts do not disagree with the exception of Father Fauci who was actively changing definitions and data interpretation to suite the current narratives.

That's the problem with science. It keeps on doing new things that need to be incorporated into the definitions. There were no mRNA vaccines except in the lab; now billions of people have gotten them, to the benefit of all of us. By the way, an inoculation is just one way to be vaccinated.

It does not help your case to refer to "Father Fauci" or to refer to "current narratives."
Those are very much red-flag, biased terms.

 

[flymolo]

So, the medical experts do not disagree with the exception of Father Fauci who was actively changing definitions and data interpretation to suite the current narratives.

I never really understood all the Fauci hate- what’s up with that? That guy picked the worst job on the planet.