Masks

odyssey06 wrote: »

You are the one dodging the question.
You made the claims about infections in health care workers and wearing of masks being more risky than not. Back it up. The point is not whether PPE make you 100% safe but whether their use is safer than not.
I linked my source about the drop in infections since mask policy changed.


Its an old chestnut cos its a defence mechanism against nonsense.

You linked to the journal, it's hardly what i'd consider peer reviewed gospel.
Your missing my question why are they still getting infected over 50% of today's cases were health care workers. The general public haven't the same level of equipment, how can a mandatory mask policy expect to control the virus?
We let prisoners out of jail, if masks were so effective why didn't we leave them there and just make them wear masks.
Masks weren't invented this year, medical professionals even on NEPHT aren't all on board with masks and have stated so on national TV
Like the guards why can they stay indoors in a crowded room with no masks yet we can't buy a loaf.

drunkmonkey wrote: »

You linked to the journal, it's hardly what i'd consider peer reviewed gospel.
Your missing my question why are they still getting infected over 50% of today's cases were health care workers. The general public haven't the same level of equipment, how can a mandatory mask policy expect to control the virus?.

You linked to nothing. Not a single source. And you are objecting to the journal article which covered an Oireachtas committee?
Come off it thats nit picking hypocrisy.
Where are your peer reviewed articles.

Cases for a single day mean nothing.
Have 50% of new cases since April been healthcare workers?

I repeat. Infections dropped in healthcare workers with the rollout of general mask policy.
If some are still being infected it does not show that mask use is riskier than not wearing them. It shows how infectious the virus is.

Besides masks for the general public are not about protecting the wearer directly, but stopping them from infecting others by containing their coughs and sneezes.

odyssey06 wrote: »

If some are still being infected it does not show that mask use is riskier than not wearing them. It shows how infectious the virus is.

Besides masks for the general public are not about protecting the wearer directly, but stopping them from infecting others by containing their coughs and sneezes.

Yes the virus is incredibly infectious. I'm pretty sure Cillian De Gascun stated it's 50/50 on masks. It should be an individual choice I believe from listening to a lot of experts.

Where are people with coughs and sneezes meant to be, out wearing a mask? Or at home isolating not wearing any mask. See what I'm getting at. We both know people with symptoms won't stay at home if we say masks will prevent them from infecting someone else. It's not true they can still infect people and the worse the mask the higher the risk.

fr336 wrote: »

Its not Ireland but i saw a UK statistic that shop workers are 75% more likely to die of Covid. A horrible number.

That's been widely disputed, M&S had 126 cases out of a work force of 78,000 and 3 deaths.
Retail is risky but I don't believe it is in Ireland right now. It's not necessary for mandatory facemasks for entering a shop.

drunkmonkey wrote: »

That's been widely disputed, M&S had 126 cases out of a work force of 78,000 and 3 deaths.
Retail is risky but I don't believe it is in Ireland right now. It's not necessary for mandatory facemasks for entering a shop.

It could be that larger supermarkets are low risk as more scope for distancing.
And the real concern is smaller retail outlets especially where ppl browse like clothes shops.
But not possible to have different rules.
So mandatory masks for all.

odyssey06 wrote: »

It could be that larger supermarkets are low risk as more scope for distancing.
And the real concern is smaller retail outlets especially where ppl browse like clothes shops.
But not possible to have different rules.
So mandatory masks for all.

It's not possible to have different rules for different shops, but it's possible to have different rules for different pubs

Shops were open throughout the pandemic with no requirements for face masks. They're not going to magically become death traps at the stroke of midnight.

Deleted User wrote: »

I haven't. I've been in a school of 5,000 students and not one was wearing a mask incorrectly. It's incredibly easy so just teach people.

I see different people wearing masks incorrectly every day. I've seen medical professionals wearing masks incorrectly. Even the photos in Irish newspapers encouraging people to wear masks show people wearing them incorrectly.

https://twitter.com/AliNouriPhD/status/1283925161801121792

GazzaL wrote: »

There was an article in one of the newspapers about the new mask requirements which showed a picture of two elderly men wearing their masks arseways and one of them was touching the front part of the mask. There was another picture in the article of a middle aged person wearing an incorrectly sized mask because it didn't cover their chin. All the gear but no idea.

Anyone who's been out in public has seen countless examples of this.

Never mind all the scientific evidence, you saw a picture of 2 guys wearing them wrong so clearly, masks are useless. Is that the point you’re trying to make?

It’s lockdown or masks. Pick one.

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Asymptomatic transmission is rare. There not a major risk. People with symptoms shouldn't be out mask or no mask, your correct if they have it, it should lessen the spread but by no means is it going to stop it.
I can only comment on what I'm seeing every day, people pulling them down by the front to talk to you, not putting them on or taking them off proper and not disposing of them properly.
People with seasonal allergies especially bunged up noses have natural facemasks there unlikely to inhale it that's Like O'Neills words not mine.
Improper use is the danger and an obvious one to anyone who understands what procedures are required for safety with them.

None of the points you have raised are a reason not to wear masks.
If people with symptoms shouldn't be out and about, regardless of masks, how is the virus spreading right now?
We should assume they are out and about, and accordingly mandate mask wearing.
It's not an argument against mask wearing.

Most allergies and rhinitis mean runny noses and sneezes not bunged up noses, so I suspect that quote from O'Neill has been taken out of context.
Regardless, there are lots of reasons why people sneeze and cough that have nothing to do with coronavirus or any infectious disease. Individuals liable to that should be wearing masks to protect others in case they are in early stages of infection. There is a risk in asymptomatic transmission which we have not fully qualified yet.

Improper use isn't a danger in the active sense i.e. in and of itself.
It's dangerous in that it fails to protect you from the actual danger.
People are bringing up oh if you use the mask wrong you will get infected as a reason not to wear a mask. It's a canard. It was part of a misinformation campaign in the early stages when the HSE were protecting their stocks of PPE.
It was part of the reason so many of our healthcare workers were infected.

And the people who say that don't explain what would have happened had the person not been wearing a mask.
They don't consider that aspect of it OR the aspect that had all the other people been wearing masks their chances of being exposed to infection would be less.

Masks lessen the spread. If they keep our R number down a few decimal points they have served their purpose as a weapon in this fight.
They have next to no economic impact compared to our other restrictions.