The title is misleading and a lie. It does not represent the article. Whatever side you are on about masks, at least post a title that represents the article.
Did anybody else read it but me?
The article said CLOTH maskes don’t work. The study compared the use of medical masks vs. CLOTH masks for health care workers.
CLOTH masks don’t work.
Medical masks do work.
That is the conclusion of the article. IMHO, I don’t think medical masks work either the way I watch people use them in day to day practice with terrible hygiene practices, constantly adjusting them, wearing them around the neck, re-using them for weeks on end.
But in the end, that the conclusion of the study Paul referred to and his own tweet state CLOTH masks don’t work. Medical masks do work per the study.
When I said “article” above, I meant “the study”.
The ONLY masks that work are N95(or small hole) masks. The kind I have in my woodworking shop for filtering out sanding/cellulose particles.
These are the type of mask that goes on with rubber bands to make a tight seal around your face. You can also use a respirator(per my previous post) that will protect you but NOT the people around you. It does not filter the wearers respiration.
But, as you allude to, only if the "medical mask" (or any mask for that matter) is:
-- Step 1- Properly Selected
The mask must be constructed of the specified material for something as infinitessimally small as is a virus, and it must be specifically designed for the wearer (e.g., adult; child, etc.)
-- Step 2- Property Fit Tested and Applied
The mask must be applied to the face such that it is sealed -- sealed -- around its entire perimeter in contact with the skin (i.e., there can be no facial hair or even stubble otherwise an effective and totally necessary seal cannot be achieved)
-- Step 3- Properly Worn
To maintain an intact seal completely around the perimeter any time the mask is moved or even touched (e.g., when it is lifted away from the face to scratch your nose or, as I have seen on several occasions, when it is lifted away from the face to avoid coughing or sneezing into it then reattaching it with the goop collected in it) Step 2 must be repeated in its entirety to re-establish the seal
-- Step 4- Properly Maintained
After each wearing or immediately after the mask is sneezed or coughed into it must be removed and, if designed as such, cleaned thoroughly with an antiseptic solution before it may be worn again. If this is not or cannot be done, the mask must be replaced.
So, while it's true that cloth masks are no more effective against virus transmission (to or from the wearer) than is a handkerchief, the wearing of other types of masks including "medical masks" must follow the foregoing PPE protocol lest their effectiveness be compromised or, as in the case of attempting to control a virus, rendered completely ineffective; that is, no more effective against transmission of a virus (to or from the wearer as, when those "droplets" everyone likes to reference to support their position of ubiquitous muzzle-wearing), than not wearing a mask at all.
Completely agree - you’ve hit the nail on the head, this study doesn’t address the efficacy of mask vs no mask. It only tested medical grade mask vs cloth mask.
Regardless of where you stand on the “no mask” issue, this study doesn’t support any position on mask vs “no mask”.