Posted on 07/18/2020 1:53:14 PM PDT by karpov
Face masks are emerging as one of the most powerful weapons to fight the novel coronavirus, with growing evidence that facial coverings help prevent transmissioneven if an infected wearer is in close contact with others.
Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said he believes the pandemic could be brought under control over the next four to eight weeks if we could get everybody to wear a mask right now. His comments, made Tuesday with the Journal of the American Medical Association, followed an editorial he and others wrote there emphasizing ample evidence of asymptomatic spread and highlighting new studies showing how masks help reduce transmission.
The research Dr. Redfield cited included a newly published study suggesting that universal use of surgical masks helped reduce rates of confirmed Covid-19 infections among health-care workers at the Mass General Brigham health-care system in Massachusetts.
His comments are the clearest message yet from the CDC, amid fierce debate over facial coverings, fueled initially by shifting messages from federal and global officials about their necessity and then by those espousing individual liberties.
Researchers from around the world have found wearing even a basic cloth face covering is more effective in reducing the spread of Covid-19 than wearing nothing at all. And many are now examining the possibility that masks might offer some personal protection from the virus, despite initial thinking that they mostly protect others.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
“the pandemic could be brought under control over the next four to eight weeks if ‘we could get everybody to wear a mask right now.’
Right. We don’t believe you. And what day was it that Fauci, Adams, and Trump said “fifteen days to slow the spread or flatten the curve?” I believe it was March 18, and I believe 15 days have passed since then.
Rip mine off as my foot touches the sidewalk when leaving a business. Probably worse for growing bacteria in those cursed things in the summer heat.
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Our familys approach also. When any of us have used one because of going to a mandatory mask business, as soon as we get home we drench it with medical alcohol from a spray bottle. The alcohol quickly completely evaporates leaving a fully sanitized mask behind.
Good idea! I will try that, too.
Hmmm.
Read the article in post 164.
The R(t) rate starts climbing midway though the stay at home period, and then starts falling again around June 10th. It continues its downward slope through the 18th when masks were made mandatory, and then levels off around July 4th.
Given the larger base of infected people an R(t) even slightly greater than 1 results in continued growth of cases.
Clearly external factors influence the rate of reproduction for the virus, but they don't appear to be the simple factors cited by politicians, pundits, and the media.
In some cases multiple factors may come into play. Keeping everyone home may have caused more transmission at home among family members and less between strangers. And then those newly ill people went out for treatment, or to get groceries, or to have a drink at the bar.
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