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Wait, Do Masks Protect Me If I’m the Only Person Wearing Them?
Well+Good ^ | Apr 21, 2022 | Kells McPhillips

Posted on 04/23/2022 12:27:49 PM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?

Despite the fact that most Americans support mask requirements on shared transportation, a federal judge struck down President Biden's mask mandate for people on airplanes and other modes of travel on April 18. Several aircraft carriers have dropped their mask mandates as a result. But if you still feel compelled to mask up before your next flight or subway ride, you may be wondering if one-way masking is effective.

First, let's discuss why masks are a useful form of protection against COVID-19. "Masks help to decrease transmission of COVID-19 by limiting the distance that respiratory droplets can travel and spread when people cough, sneeze, speak and more," says Mary Rodgers, PhD, an expert in infectious diseases with Abbott. "Medical-grade masks that have multiple layers, like KN95s, can even help to filter particles containing viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19."

As Dr. Rodgers' definition implies, masks are a way of looking out for your fellow human beings. They are designed to protect the community around you from contracting SARS-CoV-2, and according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), they are an effective way to help prevent the spread of the virus. But what if no one else is masking? Does that count for anything? .....

With that info in mind, Dr. Rodgers recommends wearing a high-quality mask like an N95 or a KN95 that fits snuggly against your face. "In fact, scientists wear N95 masks to protect ourselves in biosafety level three laboratories where we work with live SARS-CoV-2 virus, so this kind of protection is the gold standard," she adds.

(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: mandates; maskmandate; masks; n95mask
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Of course! They’re 100% effective, just as you’ve been told the past two years. To believe otherwise is anti-vax . . .


61 posted on 04/23/2022 1:17:53 PM PDT by AUTiger83 ( )
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To: Owen

“This is all a calendar thing.”

Are you suggesting the mask mandates should be continued on a seasonal bases for the rest of time?


62 posted on 04/23/2022 1:29:07 PM PDT by SoCal Pubbie
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To: Owen

It is likely that some number much higher than 90 is the percentage of N-95 masks being worn in public which have never been properly ‘Fit Tested.’ Proper ‘Fit Testing’ usually involves verifying that there is an air tight seal by confirming that a Saccharine or Pepper aerosol does not pass through the mask seal while the mask has actually been donned. It involves wearing a hood over the entire head while the mask is actually being worn. BTW, some great number of persons, myself among them have trouble being properly fitted with those masks.

It is an absurdity to express that N-95 masks are being worn by so many people having been properly fit tested.

Why would you post such an uninformed thing?

Aside from that, the N-95 is not an effective protection against viruses.


63 posted on 04/23/2022 1:30:20 PM PDT by Radix (Radical X)
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To: moovova
A facemask is mandatory for me when doing dusty work around the house...yard work, sanding sheetrock, grinding brick/rock, sawing MDF trim.

Anyone who doesn’t wear one in those situations is a fool.

Covid is not sawdust nor sheetrock dust.

Wearing one to filter out particulates is not the same as wearing one to try to filter out a virus, which it’s never going to do.

64 posted on 04/23/2022 1:32:29 PM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith…)
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To: Owen
This is Owen...and his cowardly surrender slaves.


65 posted on 04/23/2022 1:33:05 PM PDT by newfreep (“Leftism, under all of its brand names, is a severe, violent & evil mental disorder.”)
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To: 21twelve

“they don’t need to be 95% effective to do some good. Reducing the viral load even 50% might be enough to keep your immune system from getting overload” Hate to say it but....This is libtard (wishful) thinking. At best the N95 might reduce it by 50% sure, but you only need 1% to get infections. We are talking millions of viruses.
-——— This study says it give you 5 minutes. Not worth the extra infectious burden that masks cause (touching, not cleaning, re-using them etc)


• A modelling study done by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention used simulated cough and exhalation aerosols estimates that the time to infectious dose for an uninfected person (reciever) was estimated to be 15 minutes with nothing, 20 minutes with a typical cloth mask, and 30 minutes with a typical surgical mask (Aerosol Science and Technology. 2021;55:1125-1142 DOI: 10.1080/02786826.2021.1933377). These same times to infectious were calculated when the source was wearing a mask (outward leakage)(15 minutes with nothing, 20 minutes with a typical cloth mask, and 30 minutes with a typical surgical mask).


66 posted on 04/23/2022 1:35:49 PM PDT by consult
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To: Owen

If everyone is wearing N95s, can we go back to smoking in public places?


67 posted on 04/23/2022 1:40:03 PM PDT by Mean Daddy (Every time Hillary lies, a demon gets its wings. - Windflier)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?
. "Masks help to decrease transmission of COVID-19 by limiting the distance that respiratory droplets can travel and spread when people cough, sneeze, speak and more," says Mary Rodgers, PhD, an expert in infectious diseases with Abbott. "Medical-grade masks that have multiple layers, like KN95s, can even help to filter particles containing viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19."

Wow, where do I start...

Note to the egghead: Sweetie, KN95s are ChiCom knockoffs that aren't even certified for use in healthcare settings in the US. How do you not know that?!

That said, droplets aren't an issue with CoupFlu, are they. You believe the CDC, right? Aerosols are the problem.

So using any of these masks to protect against the person-to-person transmission of an airborne respiratory virus is like using chicken wire to keep out mosquitos.

No wonder you used the weasel wordage, eh?

68 posted on 04/23/2022 1:44:57 PM PDT by mewzilla (We need to repeal RCV wherever it's in use and go back to dumb voting machines.)
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To: Trailerpark Badass

Covid concentrated on killing off the weak and compromised people, I wish it had concentrated on KILLING OFF THE WEAK MINDED!

Just try to imagine it; a world without PROG/LIB/DEMOCRAT/COMMUNISTS!


69 posted on 04/23/2022 1:47:39 PM PDT by 5th MEB (Progressives in the open; --- FIRE FOR EFFECT!!)
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To: mewzilla

Note to the egghead: Something you didn’t mention. Masks are fomites. I can’t tell you how many healthcare professionals I’ve caught over the last couple of years messing with their muzzles then go to touch a patient, instruments, a worksurface WITHOUT cleaning their hands first.

And there are plenty of nasty bugs around in addition to the coof, aren’t there. Especially in healthcare settings.

And if healthcare professionals are doing that, can you imagine how freaking filthy the average American’s muzzle must be?!

You wanna wear one, knock yourself out. I just hope to God it’s clean.


70 posted on 04/23/2022 1:53:58 PM PDT by mewzilla (We need to repeal RCV wherever it's in use and go back to dumb voting machines.)
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To: All

Y’all have freaked out while I was talking about VA pensions elsewhere

1) Viruses are tiny. Too small for N95 or P100, except that’s not how it works, Viruses transport on aerosols. These are much larger and are certainly blocked by the aperture of N95 masks. If this was not so, docs would not be wearing them in rooms of Covid dying patients.

2) N95 distribution should have been funded rather than 6 month lifetime vax.

3) No one is making you wear a mask. You’re at complete liberty to stay off airplanes. Just where did you imagine stormtroopers were going to knock on your door at 3 AM and haul you to the airport and force you onto an airplane so you have to wear a mask? EXACTLY the same thing happened with smoking. No one came and picked you up at 3 AM to force you onto an airplane without cigs. You guys are being absurd.


71 posted on 04/23/2022 1:54:13 PM PDT by Owen
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To: where's_the_Outrage?
"fact that most Americans support mask requirements on shared transportation" BS!!! If that was the case most passengers would still be masked.

In polling, this is known as "social conformity bias." People give the answer that they think they're supposed to give.

Polling aside, the cheering that took place when people on airplanes were told they could unmask tells you all we need to know about how popular this was.

72 posted on 04/23/2022 1:54:14 PM PDT by Drew68 (Ron DeSantis for President 2024)
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To: 21twelve

Scared cat 🙀


73 posted on 04/23/2022 2:04:01 PM PDT by toddausauras (How far will the left go in terms of destroying our personal freedoms?)
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To: Owen

N95s don’t block viruses, either.

BTW, next time you see a doctor in what appears to be an N95, ask him or her ehat type of mask and who paid for it.

Might not be an N95. Bet it wasn’t the health system that employs him or her who paid for it.

https://www.osha.gov/coronavirus/safework

Check out the fine print.


74 posted on 04/23/2022 2:07:21 PM PDT by mewzilla (We need to repeal RCV wherever it's in use and go back to dumb voting machines.)
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To: Owen
Do N95 respirators provide 95% protection level against airborne viruses, and how adequate are surgical masks?

Conclusion: The N95 filtering face piece respirators may not provide the expected protection level against small virions. Some surgical masks may let a significant fraction of airborne viruses penetrate through their filters, providing very low protection against aerosolized infectious agents in the size range of 10 to 80 nm. It should be noted that the surgical masks are primarily designed to protect the environment from the wearer, whereas the respirators are supposed to protect the wearer from the environment.

Ruh roh.

75 posted on 04/23/2022 2:09:49 PM PDT by mewzilla (We need to repeal RCV wherever it's in use and go back to dumb voting machines.)
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To: Owen

https://youtu.be/Q9g9XeRMZM0

Owen.


76 posted on 04/23/2022 2:13:33 PM PDT by drSteve78 (Je suis Deplorable STILL)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?; Conservative4Life; Jane Long; Travis McGee; null and void; ransomnote

77 posted on 04/23/2022 2:15:54 PM PDT by Trillian
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To: where's_the_Outrage?
"scientists wear N95 masks to protect ourselves in biosafety level three laboratories where we work with live SARS-CoV-2 virus"

Notice it doesn't say that the N95s protect those in the lab from the viruses themselves. N-95s are designed to stop bacteria. But viruses are orders of magnitude smaller than bacteria.

78 posted on 04/23/2022 2:19:51 PM PDT by SamuraiScot
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

lie after lie in this article; actually, article is literally a pack of lies ...

one of the most egregious lie:

“scientists wear N95 masks to protect ourselves in biosafety level three laboratories where we work with live SARS-CoV-2 virus”

actual Level 3 requirements (zero mention of N95 MASKS, though respirators are mentioned):

https://www.phe.gov/s3/BioriskManagement/biocontainment/Pages/BSL-Requirements.aspx#:~:text=BSL%2D3%20laboratories%20are%20used,designed%20to%20be%20easily%20decontaminated.

Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3)​

BSL-3 laboratories are used to study infectious agents or toxins that may be transmitted through the air and cause potentially lethal infections. Researchers perform all experiments in a biosafety cabinet. BSL-3 laboratories are designed to be easily decontaminated. As an additional safety measure, these laboratories must use controlled, or “directional,” air flow to ensure that air flows from non-laboratory areas (such as the hallway) into laboratory areas.

Other engineered safety features include a requirement for entry through two self-closing, interlocked doors, sealed windows, floors and walls, and filtered ventilation systems. BSL-3 labs must also be equipped to decontaminate laboratory waste using an incinerator, an autoclave, and/or another method of decontamination, depending on the biological risk assessment.

In addition to BSL-2 considerations, BSL-3 laboratories have the following containment requirements:

Laboratory practices

An Occupational Health Program exists for medical surveillance of laboratory workers. Laboratory workers are under medical surveillance and may be offered immunizations for infectious agents or toxins they work with, if available.

Access to the laboratory is restricted and controlled at all times.

Safety equipment

Appropriate PPE must be worn, and respirators might be required.
All work with infectious agents or toxins must be performed within an appropriate biosafety cabinet​.
Facility construction

A hands-free sink and eyewash are available near the exit.
Exhaust air cannot be recirculated, and the laboratory must have sustained directional airflow by drawing air into the laboratory from clean areas towards potentially contaminated areas.

Entrance to the lab is through two self-closing and interlocked doors.


79 posted on 04/23/2022 2:31:33 PM PDT by catnipman (In a post-covid world, ALL "science" is now political science: stolen elections have consequences)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

“Do Masks Protect Me If I’m the Only Person Wearing Them?”

if they worked at all in the first place, then yes.


80 posted on 04/23/2022 2:35:32 PM PDT by Samurai_Jack (This is not about hypocrisy, this is about hierarchy!)
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