Current Events > So were cloth masks actually helpful?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I usually wore cloth masks but I heard they didnt really stop COVID. Is this true?

I heard you smell like feet. Is this true?

Cloth masks limited the spread of germs from people wearing cloth masks, yes

ce got really mad at me when i questioned why americans wear cloth masks

They were better than nothing until the more effective masks were more widely available. But by that time people had decided that they were tired of pretending to care about other peoples' health anyway.

Feet?

TMOG posted...

They were better than nothing until the more effective masks were more widely available. But by that time people had decided that they were tired of pretending to care about other peoples' health anyway.

This was kinda what I was thinking. I mean I was probably better off with a cloth mask than an actual mask

Choco posted...

ce got really mad at me when i questioned why americans wear cloth masks

tbf due to the amount of anti vas misinformation at the time it was hard to take any discussion questioning things in good faith at the time. Unfortunate that meant some good faith discussions were shut down as well.

At the very least the fact that lots of people wore masks were a constant reminder that there was a pandemic going on and people should keep distance from each other, and the effectiveness of keeping distance in order to prevention infection is one thing there is clear consensus on.

yes

Choco posted...

ce got really mad at me when i questioned why americans wear cloth masks

You trolled about it saying people might as well not wear masks at all, and you were told something is better than nothing.

Economics posted...

I mean I was probably better off with a cloth mask than an actual mask

What the fuck, no! Not at all.

They were significantly helpful when worn by infected people (who could be asymptomatic and unaware they're infected). Less so as a protective measure for people who weren't infected, but still better than nothing.

Yes.

If actually worn properly, yes.

I remember anti-maskers going on about how after COVID magically other illnesses disappeared, implying they all got labeled as COVID. If anything, the decline in cold, flu, et cetera supported the effectiveness of masks and social distancing. These measures not only decreased spread of COVID but other common illnesses as well. It stands to reason that it would be harder to spread cold or flu if you're around fewer people and your face is covered. I had less allergy trouble, too.

pjnelson posted...

If actually worn properly, yes.

I remember anti-maskers going on about how after COVID magically other illnesses disappeared, implying they all got labeled as COVID. If anything, the decline in cold, flu, et cetera supported the effectiveness of masks and social distancing. These measures not only decreased spread of COVID but other common illnesses as well. It stands to reason that it would be harder to spread cold or flu if you're around fewer people and your face is covered. I had less allergy trouble, too.

the people who were against masks didn't use them properly either. like the idiots you see in pics from the first couple weeks, wearing masks and gloves in a store while also touching the mask constantly

if you look at the spread of covid, a lot of asian countries had a lot less spread where mask use is ubiquitous, compared to Murica

Ryangrad posted...

You trolled about it saying people might as well not wear masks at all, and you were told something is better than nothing.

when tf did i ever do that?

Sure, and were definitely better than nothing. Too bad most people can't be bothered to be mildly inconvenienced for the greater good. Imagine how these people would react if they had to live through World War 2 or something.

"Mah gas! Mah sugar! Mah shoes!"

there was some talk about it recently, but it felt more like yet another excuse to blame the better parties than actually caring about whether it did something.

masks are worn in hospitals so it probably does do something.

cloth masks made it less likely for the person wearing them to spread COVID if they had it, by limiting how much particles they were able to put in the air from coughing or sneezing. they didn't do much to protect people from catching COVID if they breathed in particles, since the particles were small enough that they could get through the cloth masks. they were still a net benefit, more so if everyone in a setting were wearing them, even if they weren't perfect. the N95 masks and other medical grade masks are better because they made it much less likely to both spread and catch COVID.

oh right cloth masks, I saw some discussion about medical masks.

idk but I liked it

Southernfatman posted...

Sure, and were definitely better than nothing. Too bad most people can't be bothered to be mildly inconvenienced for the greater good. Imagine how these people would react if they had to live through World War 2 or something.

"Mah gas! Mah sugar! Mah shoes!"

A huge chunk of Americans most certainly did pitch a constant fit over rationing during WW2, as well as their elected officials, whose arguments against rationing were largely indistinguishable from contemporary anti-health rhetoric (take a wild guess as to which political party the vast majority of those belonged to).