Masks do not help prevent spread when worn by someone who is not infected (except by reducing hand to face contact to some degree). They help prevent infected from spreading to others. [1]
> Hand hygiene and facemasks [vs just hand hygiene, or nothing] seemed to prevent household transmission of influenza virus when implemented within 36 hours of index patient symptom onset. These findings suggest that nonpharmaceutical interventions are important for mitigation of pandemic and interpandemic influenza.
I hear this a lot but the whole message isn’t consistent to me. Masks (mostly n95 respirators) aren’t effective for the general population but they are needed by healthcare workers? How is it they are at the same time effective and ineffective?
Yeah, it's disingenuous the way the media saying handwashing is the only important thing. Studies have shown surgical masks are actually pretty much just as good at mitigating virus spread (reduced virus exposure helps, even if you don't avoid it 100%) - https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/18481...
This is false you should stop repeating it. The public shouldn't horde masks but that doesn't make it ok to go around saying they don't work.
If you have to put yourself in a high risk situation like flying on a plane where you are going to be in a crowd where someone is potentially sick I would absolutely wear one. CDC's own guidance for preventing infections on commercial aircraft says as much.
Even CNN which has been publishing “masks useless” articles every day for like at least two weeks published a piece a few days ago saying that while wearing masks may not be effective in the U.S., it could be effective in high population density countries with busy public transit (can’t find the link now). I’d say the crowded airport security lanes are definitely among the places where masks are warranted, even in the U.S.
[1] https://www.cnet.com/how-to/which-face-masks-protect-against...
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