The Upcoming Season WAYGD?

[johnny d]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

I'm really getting tired of people interviewed on television, or in the newspaper, who don't wear a mask and then cite that the purpose of a mask is to protect one's self, that masks can't filter out tiny virus particles, and that they should be able to control their own health.

They're partly correct, virus particles are extremely small, and masks can do very little (recent research shows that they can help a little) to protect one's self.

Why don't they get the real scientific reason for wearing a mask?

One wears a mask to protect others.

The mask can filter out the larger respiratory droplets exhaled, sneezed, or coughed out by those infected with the virus (many or whom may be presymptomatic or asymptomatic and not realize that they are infected).

Filtering out these larger respiratory droplets means that the virus particles within these larger respiratory droplets are also filtered out. Masks can decrease the virus particles from spreading to those are at high risk, or to healthy individuals who may then spread it to those at high risk.

These individuals show their scientific ignorance by falsely stating the purpose of masks. What else are they scientifically ignorant about?

It has also been shown that often times wearing masks actually increases the risk of becoming infected. Many people are under the false impression that wearing a mask is an extremely effective deterrent. If you are not wearing an N95 mask, then your mask is only a slightly effective deterrent. Hygiene, especially hand washing, social distancing, and not touching your face repeatedly are all much better deterrents than mask wearing. Unfortunately, because of the false sense of security people get while wearing a mask, they tend to exhibit more reckless behavior. They social distance less, they wash or sanitize their hands less often, and touch their faces much more often. Combined these increased bad behaviors often outweigh any benefit derived from wearing the mask in the first place.