Masks are still, and always were, about protecting others. And as omicron has been confirmed to spread amongst vaccinated individuals, they have become even more important. Vaccines may be effective at keeping you out of the hospital, but masks keep you from putting other people in the hospital. This is vital too.
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And every infection avoided is one less opportunity for mutation.
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I double mask all day every day, but have gone to wearing a headband with buttons sewn on the sides to put the earloops on. It does require adjusting the loops to the right tension, but spares my poor ears.
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I was thinking that in a setting where you mask all the time, you’d wear something that didn’t require ear loopies, like respirators with headbands. Couldn’t stand wearing ear loop masks for a whole day. Definitely pricier though.
Pricier is the catch. They do that for ICU’S, but for clinics we have to find cheaper PPE
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Some people 3D printed ear savers at the beginning for the poor souls in the ICUs at the beginning of the pandemic… seems it’s gotten quite popular
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Heh, I dare them to go into a steel plant or shipyard and accuse the workers of “working in fear” bc they’re wearing steel-toed boots.
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I wonder if for many of these people it is the word ‘mandate’. “You can’t tell ME what to do. You MANDATE me not to jump off this high cliff edge? How dare you presume to dictate to me.”
I wonder if some other word(s) would have a different effect. I’m sure many of them are as much against being told about a new limitation in their lives (not that they are bothered about the ones they grew up with like polio vaccines, and seat belts, and traffic lights…) as they are actually against what it is - i.e. masks.
(And in answer to @Chaz )
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No and no. Even vaccinated can get it, and suffer or not, but again spread it either way. Masks are to protect others AND STOP IT SPREADING. Some stats suggest you may be as likely to carry and spread if vaccinated as not. Plus there are the vulnerable and immuno-suppressed who may suffer worse even if vaccinated.
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Some of the most muffled speech I’ve heard in recent months has been someone talking through a multi-layer cloth mask, and also through cloth masks with filter inserts (inserts in cloth masks are bad because the air can just take the path of least resistance and go through the cloth around the inserts).
I’ve never had any trouble understanding someone wearing a Korean KF94 respirator grade filtering facepiece respirator (FFR) mask - which are usually very “breathable” in spite of having high filtration. The 3M FFR masks are also pretty easy to talk through. (A regular 3M “N95” is an example of a common FFR.)
Arron Collins is one of the only resources for consumers that makes recommendations of specific makes and models based on scientifically tested facts (though low sample size testing, typically n=1). His videos have been very useful and it is sad that there aren’t a bunch of similarly expert and comprehensive videos by people trained in occupational safety. Respirator grade masks for the general public is an area that the US government really wasn’t well prepared for, having created rules and regulations for businesses that didn’t serve the needs of a pandemic well.
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What a surprise.
No.
This Governor, as well as all other public officials in this and other States that reject mask mandates are mass murderers, pure & simple.
ETA:
I can understand not issuing a vaccine mandate, since there are those that cannot take it, but a mask? It’s the least you can do to help stop the spread.
It’s bad enough that the Czar of Texas won’t issue a mandate of any kind… he has also prevented any other entity in Texas from doing so, public and private.
Thankfully, his edict is being cheerfully ignored [for the most part], but the Talibanner Lt. Gov & Accused Felon of an AG are at least as bad as the Czar.
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I’m going disagree with you a bit on that point. It’s true, but also an over generalization and a conflation of why masks are used, and of what different kinds masks do and why. Without understanding the details people are getting mixed messages about what masks to wear, and and I’m seeing the vast majority of people favoring crappy cloth masks or leaky “surgical” masks over vastly more effective respirator grade masks that are now widely available.
Early in the pandemic the CDC recommended cloth masks as “source control” masks to help reduce the transmission rate of Covid. The cloth masks filtered poorly, but could catch many respiratory droplets at the source, your mouth and nose, when they are larger and before they have evaporated into harder to filter aerosol particles. The cloth masks were suggested as a stop gap measure because respirator grade masks that can filter aerosols and work as “Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)” were in short supply. So “masks” for the general public were characterized as “source control”.
Respirator grade masks are now once again available to the general public at regular, non-price gouging prices. They serve both as source control to protect others and as personal protection (PPE) for the wearer, and when used by enough people, the reduce the overall transmission rate of Covid.
The quality of mask and the fit make orders of magnitude of difference in the efficacy of masks as source control, as PPE and in reducing overall transmission rates.
The CDC has tried to get people to up their mask game, suggesting specific ways to double mask for improved filtration and fit, but has still hedged against simply recommending respirator grade masks for all, apparently still trying to save N95s from hoarding. The CDC needs to upgrade it’s guidelines and messaging.
Tempting to think so, but, no. Not unless their propaganda tells them it’s okay. Otherwise, as we’ve seen with several issues, it really does not matter what words you use.
Critical race theory, anyone? It does not mean what they say it means.
Black Lives Matter? Not even saying they’re “important,” just that they “matter,” is controversial.
Antifa= bad to them, even though it means anti-fascist.
The list goes on and on.
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In my not-very-humble opinion, that’s an argument not worth having. If I can get folks to wear a cloth mask, or a surgical mask, I will take that. I would rather have N95, but it is easier to get and to wear a surgical mask. I’ll take what I can get. Don’t let perfect become the enemy of good.
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I’d counter not to let the status quo be the enemy of improvement.
Right now the CDC is actively discouraging people from buying and using “N95s”, but makes no reference or recommendation to wear non-medical FFRs, including industrial N95s, KF94s, FFP2s, and KN95s. It wouldn’t be confusing if the CDC would recommend FFRs as best practice in a “good, better, best” kind of chart.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/about-face-coverings.html
Ultimately, I assume we have the similar long term goals of increased compliance with vaccination mandates and covid mitigation measures to reduce transmission of covid, and to reduce the severity of infection if or when people do catch it.
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Nitpick: the data from the delta variant indicated that vaccinated people are 5-9 times less likely to “get it.” So vaccination also makes a significant impact in stopping the spread.
You know that N95 masks are only good for hours, right? Depending on the mask, filtration drops off significantly after 3-5 hours and goes to shit by 10-12 hours. In hospitals, they are requiring N95 mask wearers to change N95s every shift; some make you mark date and time on the mask and dispose of within 12 hours of starting use.
For intense exposure situations, I would definitely use an N95 mask. If I have to get on an airplane or be in close proximity with non-family members for some reason, that’s exactly what I do. But for daily use for most people, properly fitted N95s are just not feasible. I’d rather have people wear some mask over their nose and mouth than try to force compliance to a standard that most people either don’t have the training to get right or don’t have the will to stick to for longer than it takes to digest a meal at Taco Bell.
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You are correct, of course - chances of getting / transmitting are less if vaccinated.
So I’m absolutely not intending to contradict the evidence with anecdata. Vaccination is critical and effective in multiple ways.
I am triple-vaccinated because I’m immuno-suppressed and that means that here in UK I get three doses as a baseline, and THEN (in principle) a ‘booster’ - everyone else’s third shot IS their ‘booster’.
And yesterday I had a positive PCR test. Masks are needed to protect everybody, both vaccinated and not. I know you were not doing this, but we need to take care not to let any differential statistics allow anyone to think not wearing a mask is acceptable.
Not wearing a mask when/where requested or mandated is the worst kind of anti-social behaviour (putting it politely).
(All my symptoms so far are much the same as a typical cold. I hope that turns out to be all.)
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Well, crap. Sorry to hear that. I hope your recovery is swift and your symptoms minimal!
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Thanks, man. I’m pretty ok. TBH it is so much like a cold that I wonder if I do have one, and some symptomless Covid. I had a minor cold before my ‘contact’ and then it came back like a proper cold.
Hey-ho. Stuck indoors with more time to post here. Can’t be all bad. 
G’night.
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I’m gonna call BS on the false implication that a 12 hour old N95 mask filters at the same level or worse than a cloth mask.
Aaron Collins tested a few KF94s he used for dozens of hours and found their filtration levels virtually un-diminshed. It’s a small sample size, but the testing methodology is sound using an industrial particle counter.
From Collins’ Google Docs test spreadsheet:
USED BOTN #1 - appx 38hrs 98.6%
USED BOTN #1 + Isopropyl Alc. Soak & Dry 86.7%
USED BOTN #1(41.0 hrs) 99.7%
USED BOTN #1(41.0 hrs) - Test #2 98.6%
USED BOTN #2 - appx 38hrs 97.3%
USED BOTN #2 + Tap Water Soak & Dry 96.3%
USED BOTN #2(40.2 hrs) 96.7%
USED BOTN #3 - appx 38hrs 96.3%
(And keep in mind, that is the particle count of the masks as worn on his face during testing with a port into the mask, not an idealized filter media only test. The filter media on its own would test higher without the possibility of bypass from fit issues.)
