I've been seeing a lot of misinformation going around about how masks do or do not work. This is the wrong angle to take. MASKS ARE UNNECESSARY. We don't need them. Between the death rate and the transmission rate, it's quite clear that coronavirus does not necessitate the ridiculous response we've seen, including mask mandates.
That being said, we need to get our facts straight and project knowledge of this nonsense if we want to be taken seriously by the average consoomer.
Purpose-made surgical masks are designed so that droplets stick to them as you breathe out. They don't filter the air. The air that you breathe out hits the surface of the mask, the droplets stick, and the rest of the air bounces out the sides of the mask. Masks don't protect you from others breathing out particles. Importantly, Masks that are NOT purpose-made (such as bandanas) DO NOT provide any protection. Additionally, Masks need to be frequently replaced to be effective because they get covered in aspirated particles and lose their adhesion.
WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THESE FACTS and follow them up with the fact that WE DON'T NEED THEM.
Thanks for your time.
I wear glasses, which makes me aware of the airflow pattern around a mask. When I breath with a mask, the majority of the exhale is off to the sides, or up into my glasses. This leaves humid exhale lingering at head height for someone else to walk through.
When I breath through my nose, without a mask, my exhale is headed downward, ?60degrees? From horizontal. My exhale is probably down at waist height before it stalls and remains suspended. I suspect masks are worse for this reason.
Maybe you know a smoker that will demonstrate how well a mask works.
You have a link to a research paper? I do not trust the nytimes to have reported this properly.
Don’t waste your time responding to this moron. The article mentions .3 microns only when discussing the n95 respirator. The part about the bandana only mentions particles but doesn’t specify particle size. Dust, skin, and other large objects in the air are considered particles. But they are much larger than .3 microns and that the only thing a bandanna will filter not a microscopic virus. The use of the n95 factual information is designed especially for morons like the one that uses it as source but doesn’t understand they’re being misled in a sleight of hand sort of way. Yes it filters 18 percent of particles, no it most definitely does not filter viruses. They reside in the 82 percent not filtered. In other words, cloth masks are useless.