Originally Posted by
LonghornDXB
Somehow masks are not recommended in Australia, just like they were not in the US and Europe 2-3 months back....
People gulp up whatever media "tells" them to do, in this case, backed up by somber looking scientists talking about "following science".
If a similar campaign is launched for gloves, you can give it 3-4 weeks, and people will say "gloves help prevent sickness, because they are used in operating theatres"
On a similar vein, look at the "6 feet apart or 6 feet under" crowd. People literally believe that if they are less than 6 feet apart from each other, they will catch the virus and die, choosing to ignore that a minority of the population is affected, and out of them the fatality rate is less than 1 or 2 in a 100.
Nobody is a bigger critic of the media than I. Go over to the "fact-based" board and look a week back. Masks are not a "media" creation. The WHO and many prognosticators who were wrong from the start have lost all credibility and now have seemingly become deranged about this virus to the point of not functioning properly. First they undercalled it, then they overcalled it. Typical defense mechanism when you get something wrong in public once. I posted the Lancet paper over on the other board that estimated the 0.66% IFR and it has held up well since then.
I worked in a major urban ER during HIV when one of six admits was "HIV with fever". I also did an internship at CDC in addition to my "garden variety" MD degree and 29 years experience. This virus spreads in respiratory droplets (not dry virions) that leave a nose or mouth of an infected person.
Everyone who gets infected does so because someone else let that virus leave their face. Droplets with the most viral load are also are larger, heavier and cannot stay in air very long, so they fall to surfaces where it can take hours to days to drop to 10% or 1% of original dose. This is a respiratory pathogen so preventing it from leaving the nose or mouth of an infected person is paramount. And if you have a well fitted mask, even a cloth one, then you are also protecting yourself. But hand washing and sanitizing surfaces people breath on, talk over, and cough on is also crucial. The majority of the SARS-CoV2 viral load on planet earth right now is on surfaces, not in the air. Gloves do nothing against this that a bottle of hand sanitizer frequently used or frequent 20 second hand washes cannot do.
HIV was blood and body fluids borne, therefore gloves were essential since you could be infected via needlestick or even a splash into a cut. It was very easy to find a mask in the hospital back then, but gloves, impervious gowns and boots were another story.
You have to know your enemy and choose the right tools to beat it.
What you say "people believe" is not shared on this board and we post the links to back it up. I don't know who the "6 feet under crowd" is either. I have said since March on these boards that we can dance around this virus once we hammer down the initial peak and we are there now in the US and most of Europe. At least as best as we can get there. Maybe you need to be talking to some different people. We are glad you are here and hope you keep an open mind and read what we have to offer.
If you want society to begin the long journey back to normal, realizing that many will completely lose their cookies over any increase in new cases while the "econonmy is opened up" then we all need to just wear masks, wash our hands, and keep the curves flat in the places where they never peaked, and society will get to the other side.