General Discussion

Quixote1818

(29,000 posts) Sat May 23, 2020, 02:15 PM May 2020

Mayo Clinic on Face Masks

COVID-19: How much protection do face masks offer?
Get answers to your questions about face masks, including how to use them properly.

By Mayo Clinic Staff

Can face masks help prevent the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)? Yes, face masks combined with other preventive measures, such as frequent hand-washing and social distancing, help slow the spread of the disease.

So why weren't face masks recommended at the start of the pandemic? At that time, experts didn't yet know the extent to which people with COVID-19 could spread the virus before symptoms appeared. Nor was it known that some people have COVID-19 but don't have any symptoms. Both groups can unknowingly spread the virus to others.

These discoveries led the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to do an about-face on face masks. The CDC updated its guidance to recommend widespread use of simple cloth face coverings to help prevent transmission of COVID-19 by people who have the virus but don't know it.

Some public health groups argue that masks should be reserved for health care providers and point to the critical shortage of surgical masks and N95 masks. The CDC acknowledged this concern when it recommended cloth masks for the public and not the surgical and N95 masks needed by health care providers.

How do the different types of masks work?

More: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-mask/art-20485449

6 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Mayo Clinic on Face Masks (Original Post) Quixote1818 May 2020 OP

They were clearly also worried about healthcare workers... Buckeye_Democrat May 2020 #1

Right. From what I remember it was the desperate need for masks to go to medical and they LizBeth May 2020 #2

Yeah, that would've been better. Buckeye_Democrat May 2020 #3

Yes - and that lie (however well-intended) is feeding the current bad practices. Ms. Toad May 2020 #5

I was there 8 hours on the 19th. ProudMNDemocrat May 2020 #4

It's not that hard to find KN95 masks RAB910 May 2020 #6

Buckeye_Democrat

(14,858 posts)

1. They were clearly also worried about healthcare workers...

Reply to Quixote1818 (Original post)

Sat May 23, 2020, 02:26 PM

May 2020

... not having masks, due to "panic shopping".

March 2nd article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/03/02/n95-face-mask-coronavirus/

Edit: And they surely knew about asymptomatic spreaders back then, since I knew about it before it even reached the USA after reading about it in other countries.

LizBeth

(9,952 posts)

2. Right. From what I remember it was the desperate need for masks to go to medical and they

Reply to Buckeye_Democrat (Reply #1)

Sat May 23, 2020, 02:53 PM

May 2020

didn't put much stop in homemade. Homemade may not be as good but it is better than nothing and ways to strengthen effectiveness. But I think that is what that was about and it was still a lie. They could have told us to cover face in whatever manner.

Buckeye_Democrat

(14,858 posts)

3. Yeah, that would've been better.

Reply to LizBeth (Reply #2)

Sat May 23, 2020, 02:56 PM

May 2020

Put a little more faith in people to do the right thing. Cover yourself with just about anything, but the high-grade masks must go to our healthcare workers.

Ms. Toad

(34,117 posts)

5. Yes - and that lie (however well-intended) is feeding the current bad practices.

Reply to Buckeye_Democrat (Reply #1)

Sat May 23, 2020, 03:13 PM

May 2020

I can't even begin to count the number of conversations I've had with people whose starting point is, "But the CDC told us the masks did not help - and they might even hurt. Now they are just saying to wear them to take away our rights."

And I can't even tell them with a straight face that the first declaration was the truth and that we have learned more since then.

ProudMNDemocrat

(16,828 posts)

4. I was there 8 hours on the 19th.

Reply to Quixote1818 (Original post)

Sat May 23, 2020, 02:59 PM

May 2020

For a barage of tests in Opthalmalogy before seeing my Doctor.

As I entered at the Gonda enterance, there were tables with people taking temperatures, asking a battery of questions before giving you a sticker clearing you to go further. Once I got up to the 7th floor, more questions asked. I was there from 7:30am, and left 3:45pm. I wore my mask the whole time.

RAB910

(3,531 posts)

6. It's not that hard to find KN95 masks

Reply to Quixote1818 (Original post)

Sat May 23, 2020, 03:30 PM

May 2020

They are not up to the N95 standard but it's the best protection you can get when you are around MAGAts that refuse to wear masks

Reply to this discussion