Do cloth masks work?

Nice info Raiders22. 

I recently got over the rona. Very little travel outside of home. Walmart and big box store. No visitors at my home since August. ALWAYS wore cloth mask and social distancing. Didn't matter, I got it. Once in box store a woman crossed my path some 20' ahead. When I arrived at the point where she crossed her perfume filled my mask. If she had Covid would it not be there too?? Go through my mask? Yep.

The thread title is "Do masks work", maybe a better title "How much do masks work if at all".  

There was a report that scientists believe the virus has become more contagious because of masks.

https://nypost.com/2020/09/24/covid-19-mutation-may-be-evolving-to-bypass-masks-hand-washing/

I was lucky, didn't put me in the hospital or worse. Yet there are those who get it bad! 

More time and effort needed to identify those susceptible and treatment for them.

Nice info Raiders22. 

I recently got over the rona. Very little travel outside of home. Walmart and big box store. No visitors at my home since August. ALWAYS wore cloth mask and social distancing. Didn't matter, I got it. Once in box store a woman crossed my path some 20' ahead. When I arrived at the point where she crossed her perfume filled my mask. If she had Covid would it not be there too?? Go through my mask? Yep.

The thread title is "Do masks work", maybe a better title "How much do masks work if at all".  

There was a report that scientists believe the virus has become more contagious because of masks.

https://nypost.com/2020/09/24/covid-19-mutation-may-be-evolving-to-bypass-masks-hand-washing/

I was lucky, didn't put me in the hospital or worse. Yet there are those who get it bad! 

More time and effort needed to identify those susceptible and treatment for them.

Sure thing.  Couple more interesting ones:

https://swprs.org/face-masks-evidence/

https://thefederalist.com/2020/11/18/major-study-finds-masks-dont-reduce-covid-19-infection-rates/

This was a comment on there:

This question has been asked a million times or more, but if the masks work then why do we have to have lockdowns? If they don't work, then why do we have to wear masks? If the first lockdown worked then why the second lockdown? If the first lockdown didn't work then why will the second lockdown work?

If brakes work, why do we have seatbelts? And if seatbelts work, why do we have brakes. What about airbags? In the old days we just had paneled wood!

Not trying to be a dick because you know you're alright in my book but that's how ridiculous this sounds. And you're a pretty logical dude. You don't say a lot of ridiculous shit.

And one more:

Currently the CCP virus has killed .0007% of the US population (263K/330M)
The 1918 pandemic killed .006% of US population (675K/106M)
If we continue to have covid deaths at this years level for the next 10 years straight we still would not reach the level of the 1918 pandemic

Stu,

Haha!  I think both do work on cars.  One is for you to use to operate your vehicle and the other is for prevention of accidents and other's carelessness. 

But with Covid, the issue is that neither are really proven effective.

So, not quite circular logic in one instance; but somewhat circular in the other.

Sure, if they were both/either proven to work, then use all means available.  They just do not work.

Also, not something I said.  I said it was a quote.  I just thought it was a funny quote.

Another quote:

If they were so effective during the Spanish Flu then why have we not worn them everyday since? We still have the flu - in fact the flu has killed more than 65 million people since 1918, yet no one ever suggested we should wear a mask.

They didn't work during the spanish flu and they dont work now. Think about this guys you can fit 100 million viral particles on the head of a pin! And if you were to line them up side by side you can fit 15,000 length wise on the head of a pin. So no that mask is not doing anything but lowering your oxygen levels which in turn lowers immunity and is causing you to inhale microscopic fungal, bacterial and paper fibers into your lungs. I've never seen such complete insanity in my years on this earth as I see now with healthy people walking, driving, biking with masks on lol.

O and one more thing they are absolutely destroying our oceans. 75% of single use masks and gloves are ending up in our oceans. They take about 400 yrs to degrade once there. 180 billion masks and gloves have been found in oceans. (The article I read was from july sometime so it's even worse now ). They're completely destroying the ocean ecosystem.  Funny I dont hear anything from the kool aid hair soyboy crowd though.

Good post. 180 billion sounds high and random but I never even thought of the environmental impact

Doja I actually went back to read the article again and it's even worse. The article states its 129 billion masks and 65 billion gloves PER MONTH! The article was dated July 7 2020. I dont know how to link articles on covers but the article was on Greenmatters.com. There's other articles stating roughly the same thing. It's hard to wrap my head around those kind of numbers shocking!

Polls show vast majority of Americans support mask wearing.  Only a small minority believe masks are ineffective or a health hazard.  Without solid evidence, dangerous nonsense to claim masks decrease oxygen intake, weakens immune system, increase virus risk, toxin inhalation or effectiveness not studied.  In this pandemic, every top public health organization in the world agrees that mask wearing combined with social distancing and hand washing are more protective than going unmasked.  US center for disease control, World health organization and National academy of sciences recommend mask wearing in indoor public places.

Hopefully, you wrote this in jest.  Who cares what the majority of non-informed people that have no scientific background think?  They just follow the media frenzy.

Ample evidence and studies, pre-Wuhan and post-Wuhan, have been posted to show the lack of masks preventing viruses.  Many other studies have shown the bad effects of the masks as well.  In addition to the charts that show the cases shooting up well after mask mandates have been implemented.  Etc., etc.

Go with the science on this one and not the media and political hoopla. 

Historically, every pandemic has multiple waves as fluctuations in number of cases occur naturally over time.  In response to rising numbers, countries impose tougher public health restrictions worldwide.  Return of lockdowns doesn't prove masks are ineffective.  Without mitigation, there would be far more hospitalizations and deaths.  Anti-mask and anti-vaccine movements are really anti-science and harmful to public health.

This is incorrect and not backed up by science at all, in fact, quite the opposite.  I have addressed this part many times. 

If you ever study logic or philosophy.  This is akin to what we refer to as abductive reasoning.  

You can not dismiss facts, or infer facts, to back up science.  That is not how it works. 

Apparently, people who refuse masks and vaccines deserve more education.  US has the most covid cases and deaths of any country in the world because not enough people follow guidelines from public health experts.  Almost two dozen states have mask requirements.  Now daily cases, hospitalizations and deaths have reached record highs.  Worldwide, many countries are forced to return to stronger mitigation to reduce virus transmission.  Now is not the time to relax on mitigation.  Even facebook, twitter and youtube remove covid misinformation dangerous to public health.  Pope Francis says the common good takes precedence over personal freedom.

"Almost two dozen states have mask requirements. Now daily cases, hospitalizations and deaths have reached record highs."

This is where the disconnect is with most folks, I think.  All of these mandates have been in place for quite some time and now the cases are spiking.  These things are hardly effective, if at all. 

The virus is not stronger after midnight and weaker after 5 am, it does not attack churches more than riots, it does not respect 2 meters more than 3 meters, it does not respect droplets more than aerosols, it does not differentiate between 25% or 50% of the capacity limits, etc., etc.

Again, if masks work, why the spikes after they are put in place; if masks work, why are there not evident drops after they are put in place.

There may even be evidence that masks are causing the spikes.

Masks are the cause of the spikes seem hard to deny if you just go with the 'logic' the Left and the Media are using with this thing.  Because, again, they are not backed up by science on much of this.

Couple of more quotes I saw:

Masks dont stop the spread of a virus

99.98% survival rate without a vaccine for covid, vs a 95.82% survival rate for influenza which has had a vaccine for decades....things that make one go hmmm.

If masks worked, why did they release criminals from jails and prisons, instead of just giving them masks?

Watching sports over the weekend and can't imagine much that could be more pathetic than teams getting Covid tested before every game still having to wear masks (which they lower every time the coach speaks to a player).

They are tested and determined to be Covid free, and are surrounded by Covid free people, so wearing masks helps Covid free people from spreading Covid?

Insanity.

Life under leftists is forcing people to forego reality.

They help to keep your hands away from face.

Quite the opposite has been shown.  Now you have people constantly fiddling with, and adjusting, a mask.  They are pulling it down below their nose and even their chin.  They are grabbing the outside of a ‘supposedly’ contaminated mask, that has caught germs.  They are sliding the mask against the part of their face that was exposed to the germs and then pulling the now contaminated inside of their mask back over their mouth to breathe the germs. They are constantly fingering the masks on the exposed side and then later touching around other parts of their face, like their eyes.  But that is okay because the eyes do not need protection because they can instinctively sense the virus and blink in time, unlike the mouth and nose or hands.  

We have an organism that is airborne.

Can grow a tentacle and puncture through the skin allowing the virus to enter the body.....

A normal cloth mask does not do much but this is my anology do you wear a t shirt if you forgot sunblock at a beach even though the dog protection is 10 and you need 50. Or do you simply burn to a crisp red because the t shirt isn't as effective as the sunscreen you wish to use. 

Something is better than nothing.

Overall body of evidences confirm what public health experts knew which is that masks are effective.  Prevent epidemic group reports mask mandates reduce covid cases in Alabama, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas.  In Kansas and Tennessee, mask mandates help to lower number of serious cases and severity of illness according to Vanderbilt university and University of Kansas.  US center for disease control found covid cases drop 75% after mask mandate in Arizona.  According to covid tracking project, 8 of top 10 states with highest number of new covid cases per capita lack mask mandates.  Also states with mask mandates are less likely to see huge surges in covid cases. However states without mask mandates perform worse.  Nature medicine journal estimates universal mask wearing could save up to 130,000 American lives by February 2021.   In Singapore, 95% of people wear masks and they have one of the lowest rate of covid cases in the world.

The following is all a quote from and paper quoting an article:

The article explains:

So, wait. Italy is following, more strictly, the many recommendations being made by Governors and public health officials here in the U.S., and yet the problem is getting worse? The article continues:

I found this article to be shockingly honest for a somewhat mainstream publication, and the conclusion for anyone with the capacity to think independently is fairly obvious: you can’t stop a virus. And, for reasons that I’m sure psychologists will be analyzing for decades to come, both your fellow citizens and many politicians seem to be suffering from a deeply destructive condition: the illusion of control.

What's particularly troubling about the return of COVID in Italy is that the country has done everything experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci have been advising. Face masks in public places have been compulsory for months, social distancing is strongly enforced, nightclubs have never reopened, and sporting arenas are at less than a third of capacity. Children who are back at school are regularly tested and strictly social-distanced, and yet, the second wave seems completely unstoppable.