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The health dangers of wearing a mask improperly

Our new dictators in government and its bureaucracies are now attempting to impose a new “normal” on society, demanding that everyone where a mask wherever they go in public. They claim this is to “slow the spread of COVID-19”, but if you try to pin down the actual science that supports this claim, you will routinely have trouble finding it.

What you instead will find is that there is substantial peer-reviewed research that not only questions the usefulness of widespread mask use by the public in ordinary settings, but also notes serious health risks that can be caused by the masks themselves.

Today I want to take a look at the failure and absurdity of widespread mask use, using as my guide the very instructions given by the Mayo Clinic and the World Health Organization (WHO). What I am going to do is review these instructions, step-by-step, noting the absurdity of their expectations and the risks they scoff over so nonchalantly.

First, let’s look at the claims made by the Mayo clinic:

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.

Yet, they fail to cite any studies showing this will work. In fact, a review of the literature finds no such studies. Or to quote this neurosurgeon,

As for the scientific support for the use of face mask, a recent careful examination of the literature, in which 17 of the best studies were analyzed, concluded that, “ None of the studies established a conclusive relationship between mask/respirator use and protection against influenza infection.” Keep in mind, no studies have been done to demonstrate that either a cloth mask or the N95 mask has any effect on transmission of the COVID-19 virus. Any recommendations, therefore, have to be based on studies of influenza virus transmission. And, as you have seen, there is no conclusive evidence of their efficiency in controlling flu virus transmission. [emphasis mne]

WHO itself is very clear about mask use. As noted in their video below, only those with symptoms and those caring for those who are sick need wear a mask. Everyone else should not bother, as “there is no evidence that they protect people who are not sick.”

Moreover, note how both the Mayo Clinic and WHO insist that you need to combine mask use with frequent hand washing. What they are doing here is getting you to do something that is known to work, washing your hands. If you do that, the mask becomes irrelevant.

Next, the Mayo Clinic discusses the types of masks to use, telling everyone to avoid using certified surgical or N95 masks because this will cause a shortage for health workers, who really need them. At the same time they also admit that surgical masks, which are far more available than N95 masks, are unproven to work against COVID-19.

At this time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved any type of surgical mask specifically for protection against the COVID-19 virus.

The small size of the virus’s particles suggests that surgical masks won’t be able to stop them.

The clinic then goes on to absurdly suggest the public use ordinary cloth masks instead. If they admit that surgical masks are not proven to work, then why should we waste our time using ordinary cloth masks? It makes no sense.

The Mayo Clinic also makes the entirely false claim that “countries that required face masks, testing, isolation and social distancing early in the pandemic seem to have had some success slowing the disease’s spread.”

Those countries, like South Korea, did not demand widespread mask use. They instead asked, like WHO, that only the sick wear them if they needed to go out, or the healthy who were in direct contact with the sick. They made no such demands on the general public.

All-in-all, their criteria for justifying mask use does not make any rational sense, is not based on any science, and in fact contradicts the science that presently exists.

Finally the clinic provides detailed instructions on using cloth masks. After you read these instructions carefully, do you really believe the general public is following these instructions properly?

  • Place your mask over your mouth and nose.
  • Tie it behind your head or use ear loops and make sure it’s snug.
  • Don’t touch your mask while wearing it.
  • If you accidentally touch your mask, wash or sanitize your hands.
  • Remove the mask by untying it or lifting off the ear loops without touching the front of the mask or your face.
  • Wash your hands immediately after removing your mask.
  • Regularly wash your mask with soap and water in the washing machine. It’s fine to launder it with other clothes. [emphasis mine]

The Mayo clinic also admits that the masks should not be used on “anyone who has trouble breathing, or is unconscious or otherwise unable to remove the mask without help,” and should also not be put “on children under 2 years of age.”

The highlighted guidelines illustrate the absurdity of demanding that mask use be made ubiquitous. Expecting people to never touch their mask and to wash their hands every time afterward is simply unrealistic.

Moreover, it also appears from these instructions that using a mask for too long significantly increases the health risk. In fact, I suspect that no mask should be worn for longer than a half hour, at the most, before it must be washed or discarded. Longer than this and I would expect bad things to begin to accumulate there, threatening the health of the wearer as well as any around them.

Now let’s take a look at WHO’s instructions for using a mask. I haven’t bothered to highlight anything because everything they say illustrates the unrealistic expectations of those demanding the use of masks by everyone for all time.

  • Before putting on a mask, clean hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
  • Cover mouth and nose with mask and make sure there are no gaps between your face and the mask.
  • Avoid touching the mask while using it; if you do, clean your hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
  • Replace the mask with a new one as soon as it is damp and do not re-use single-use masks.
  • To remove the mask: remove it from behind (do not touch the front of mask); discard immediately in a closed bin; clean hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.

Once again, is it realistic to expect these instructions to be followed by the general public? No. How often have you seen people pull their masks down to breath or to speak more clearly to others? Often. How often do people replace their mask? Rarely, because they usually wear them all day. Do people replace masks when they get damp? No I suspect not.

In conclusion, the demand that everyone wear masks in public settings appears to be a very bad idea, and one that should be firmly resisted by everyone, aggressively. These instructions exist for a reason, mostly because there is an expectation of bad things accumulating in a mask if it is used improperly.

For those with lung issues, such as asthma or diminished lung function, their use is an even worse idea. As noted by that neurosurgeon,

[Research has] found that about a third of the workers developed headaches with use of the mask, most had preexisting headaches that were worsened by the mask wearing, and 60% required pain medications for relief. As to the cause of the headaches, while straps and pressure from the mask could be causative, the bulk of the evidence points toward hypoxia and/or hypercapnia as the cause. That is, a reduction in blood oxygenation (hypoxia) or an elevation in blood C02 (hypercapnia). It is known that the N95 mask, if worn for hours, can reduce blood oxygenation as much as 20%, which can lead to a loss of consciousness, as happened to the hapless fellow driving around alone in his car wearing an N95 mask, causing him to pass out, and to crash his car and sustain injuries. I am sure that we have several cases of elderly individuals or any person with poor lung function passing out, hitting their head. This, of course, can lead to death.

A more recent study involving 159 healthcare workers aged 21 to 35 years of age found that 81% developed headaches from wearing a face mask.3 Some had pre-existing headaches that were precipitated by the masks. All felt like the headaches affected their work performance.

Unfortunately, no one is telling the frail elderly and those with lung diseases, such as COPD, emphysema or pulmonary fibrosis, of these dangers when wearing a facial mask of any kind—which can cause a severe worsening of lung function. This also includes lung cancer patients and people having had lung surgery, especially with partial resection or even the removal of a whole lung.

As I have written before, I will not wear a mask as demanded by our modern petty dictators. If I need to wear one, it will because I might be around a sick person, or I myself have become sick, as has been the practice for more than a century.

Otherwise, wearing a mask is nothing more than a feel-good empty gesture, imposed to instill fear and terror in everyone, while actually increasing the chances everyone will get sick.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


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47 comments

  • wodun

    “Finally the clinic provides detailed instructions on using cloth masks. After you read these instructions carefully, do you really believe the general public is following these instructions properly?”

    Some are and some aren’t. The instructions aren’t that complicated and I’m sure that people can follow them if they choose to. The problem with waiting to become sick to wear a mask or only wearing one around sick people is that with this virus, people are contagious before showing any symptoms.

    Wearing a mask isn’t a cure all. They aren’t silver bullets. Where I live, some people wear them and some don’t and I’m not bothered by either group. I also don’t care that individual businesses require them except that masks are not affordable or easily attainable.

    I’d take all of these studies with a grain of salt. Some people cling to studies like a talisman but there is a lot of uncertainty with contradictory information coming out.

    Wearing a mask seems to be an action that takes minimal effort that can reduce, not eliminate, spreading the virus. For me, if there is something that may or may not help but it is minimal effort or expense, it’s an easy decision.

    While it could be that some people wear a mask as a form of virtue signalling, there are also people who refuse to wear one out of a similar motivation. It is important not to get locked into a mode of thinking, to be open minded and take measured risks.

  • Cotour

    The Mayo Clinic describes how a professional doctor or nurse in the healthcare world is trained to wear and handle a face mask designed for them to wear. And that has nothing to do with the measures and contraptions that individuals in the street, in the real world are executing on their faces. Nothing what so ever.

    In the end any mask in the street and in the world worn by any individual is primarily about not spreading what the wearer might have and has little to do with protecting the wearer from others for the most part. Although it may make them feel good.

    And there is no way that any standard related to wearing any mask “Correctly” can be enforced by the government or anyone else.

  • Cotour

    Wait! Wait! I think the mask issue has apparently been addressed and solved, both here on planet earth and I suppose on Mars.

    https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/biovyzr-venture-out-breathe-easy#/

    I can not wait to see this on the street, in the cafes of Paris, eating a pizza in Rome, on the subways of New York, two people wearing these and holding hands on a romantic walk through Central Park. It really is a brave new world.

  • John C

    But even if it stops just 1 transmission isn’t it worth it?????????

  • Max

    Another well thought out article exploring all the variables. When there’s no sound science (because everyone is different as the masks they wear) you must follow common sense which you have illustrated.
    I see a pattern here that is more common among religious cults, and does not belong in medical science. It is establishing a pattern among those who are compliant, the members of the corona cult, and openly marking those who do not respect the pronouncements of authority… Especially when the authority has overplayed their position of executive orders handed down by God/Imperial edict/dictator and made no sense other than the order is backed by the power of the gun.
    In the USA, the power is the People’s, they loan it to those they elect but it’s temporary.
    This is an effort to make that power permanent with “empty unconstitutional threats” hoping sheepeople will willingly comply if the media speaks loud enough, for long enough, for a common cause that we all share. Compliant people will follow suit and the rest will follow along because it’s easier than making waves. This is called the “new normal”. Believe me, law and order is a firm foundation that is normal to stand on, ever changing quicksand being the new normal will eventually kill you. The new normal has no standards other than the religious fathwah of instruction of the day from your local governor.
    When the feel and form of law changes daily, we all become lawbreakers and must be punished. We are made to feel not worthy of happiness or a normal life. We are punished for working, making a living, feeding our children, or just taking a walk. Like an animal who feel safe in their cage, they want us to stay in our home, sheltering in place, shivering with fright.
    Watch out! Round two of coronavirus is coming… Said the boy who cried Wolf. You must wear a cross and have a bottle of holy water disinfectant to protect you from evil that is everywhere and invisible. Be careful not to step on a crack or you’ll break your mothers back… Report any bare faces and black cats in your neighborhood. Look for omens in the stars and numbers tattooed on hands for the end is nigh. Download an app as protection from the evil one, and get your unsafe, untested, no criminal liability vaccination shots, to please your betters… (public trust is important to maintain at all costs) If you die, it was God’s will. You can’t fight fate… Especially if it was chosen for you by an Iman chosen of God with titles and letters behind their names.
    Hasn’t the media told you every day? Resistance is futile! Acceptance is your only option of the “new normal” (that is anything but normal.)

    The dark age of superstition and consensus triumphing over the rule of law, sound science and logic… The liberals utopia is at hand. Death will soon follow… It always does. At first he’ll be hard to recognize because he also will be wearing a mask… The residents of New York’s rest homes know him intimately.

  • commodude

    Masks are like the scrap drives of WW1 and 2, rationing in WW2, and other drives to engage those not on the front lines in the conflict.

    The roots are in the psychology of the masses, and if you can get all the Karens engaged in thinking that they’re both correct and actively engaged, the rest of the masquerade becomes easy and can be extended ad infinitum using the same logic.

    I spent the weekend dealing with virtue signaling siblings, one of whom was wearing not just one, but TWO masks in order to do their part.

  • wayne

    commodude–
    Two masks, eh?
    That equals a psychological ‘twice-as-concerned,’ in contrast to the physics where we would just multiply the efficiency-rating by itself.

    This mask-thing is truly pathological. I’m not necessarily conspiratorial-minded, but the next thing will be arm-bands for the ‘clean’ statist-fascists, and little Yellow Stars sewn on the clothes of everyone else.

    “OK, Karen! ?‍♀️”
    Paul Joseph Watson
    May 17, 2020
    https://youtu.be/aR3uA2eLgbk
    8:33
    (* Adult Content )

  • Robert Pratt

    “When a person is infectious with a virus it is estimated that they may shed one hundred billion virus particles a day – that works out to 10 million per breath,” Dr. John Lee pointed out.

    Given that the most common cloth masks in use by people have thousands of pores, holes between the fabric threads, several times larger than the width of a human hair and that a full thousand virus particles can fit through a space the size of a human hair side-by-side even laboratory controlled fit and use of a mask, conditions not present in actual life usage, does little to stop the spread of virus particles.

    If just a breath contains 10 million virus particles, the pressurized large release associated with a sneeze or cough is reasonably likely to be much greater and will put millions of virus particles straight through a mask as well as much more out the side perimeters of such.
    —-
    More: “To understand why it is still evolving further, you have to grasp just how small a virus is. Imagine a birthday balloon. A virus is smaller than this by roughly the same amount that the balloon is smaller than the earth (think about that for a moment: balloon, earth; virus, balloon). When a person is infectious with a virus, it is estimated that they may excrete 10-to-the-11th power [100,000,000,000 – 100 billion] virus particles a day. Even if 99.99 percent of the particles were destroyed on contact with the air, there are still a huge number of infectious ones left.” https://spectator.us/could-lockdown-side-effects-considered/

  • wayne

    Judy Lysy
    wearing the yellow star
    Montreal Holocaust Museum, 2016
    https://youtu.be/SnOGZI8t5KQ
    2:03

  • wayne

    Robert Pratt-
    Good stuff.

    “Ordinary” ‘masks,’ are primarily utilized as a physical barrier for fluid splatter, and to hinder one from touching their eyes, nose, and mouth. I used to teach the Red Cross Bloodborne-Pathogen class, they don’t have one for airborne-pathogens, in part because ‘masks’ don’t filter viruses.

  • Andrew_W

    Masks aren’t supposed to capture individual virus particles, they’re supposed to catch the water droplets containing those virus particles, so the entire discussion about how much smaller the virus is compared to the pores in masks is a strawman argument.

  • wayne: Using a mask to catch “fluid splatter” and “water droplets” that might contain the virus proves the entire point of my essay. You shouldn’t we wearing one, unless you are already sick and need to protect others, or are caring for a sick individual. In all other cases, you are actually increasing your risk of getting sick with zero benefit.

  • wayne

    Mr. Z.,
    (didn’t form that thought clearly)
    Yes, I concur.

    Andrew_W-
    disagree with your strawman assertion.
    ——
    Q: how long does the virus live on environmental surfaces?

  • wayne: Your question apparently was answered already in this earlier post: More good news on the Wuhan flu front. See the first link provided.

  • Andrew _W

    Wayne, so you can find someone familiar with masks, perhaps a manufacturer, claiming that viruses are larger than the pores in masks?
    The only claims I’ve seen from advocates of wearing masks are that the masks capture the droplets containing the virus particles, so yes, pointing out that the pores are much larger than the virus is a strawman.

  • wayne

    Mr. Z.,– thank you.
    “Persistence of coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces and their inactivation with biocidal agents”
    https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-6701(20)30046-3/fulltext

  • Phill O

    There are two studies of the Covid-19 about to be finished in about two weeks.
    1 The Skroll cave rescue in AZ had rescue people working in close proximity where NONE were symptomatic. Any masks were quickly abandoned as being impracticable (according to my informants).
    2 The towns of Bisbee and Tombstone were very busy over the Memorial weekend with folk who did not have that same level of evaluation before the mixed with others.

    The results from the first group, I expect to see no cases. The second group will be instructive.

    Truly, there is a vast difference between NYC and rural AZ.

  • Mike the Rike

    The virus is typically between .06 and .14 microns. While the N95 mask is capable of this, cloth and generic masks are only capable of filtration of .3 microns at best.

    Do the math and decide for yourself if there is any value in any mask other than a N95.

  • Cotour

    How about this mask by a Hollywood SJW?

    https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=YomXA5ci&id=5A06606F3D2F5E0ADBED4D2C527B542C4857E50A&thid=OIF.SMddMGgvM7yA3ItwRy9fpg&mediaurl=http%3a%2f%2fcdn02.cdn.justjared.com%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2fheadlines%2f2020%2f05%2falyssa-milano-responds-to-backlash-for-wearing-crochet-mask.jpg&exph=300&expw=300&q=alyisa+milano+wearing+home+made+mask&simid=80760085666&selectedIndex=1

    She may have missed where the decimal place was in calculating the size of virus she was attempting to deal with and the necessary layering that might be required to be effective. Thank God America has these kinds of leaders in our society, its why we are leading the world (But in what you might ask?)

  • commodude

    Cotour,

    Some years back, different crisis, I was attempting to purchase HEPA vacs for a facility. Of course, all purchases in a bureaucracy have to go through the bureaucratic gatekeepers.

    Me “I found a supply house with 10 clean room vacuum systems. They beat the required specs,and I need your approval to purchase them. I just emailed you the sheets on them, please check and approve the purchase.”

    A few minutes later….”But these don’t meet the specs at all. They’re required to filter all particles down to .3 microns, these only filter particles to .1 microns.”

    I gave up. Sadly, that was on an area wide telecon, and I was the only person trying to correct the gatekeeper’s mistake.

  • Phill O: Feel free to provide our various caving listservs links to any of my mask posts. It would look too self-serving if I did so.

  • Phill O

    I made the point that bats are known to host over 60 corona virus strains and only shed when stressed. It was clear from discussions that even the best masks have limited duration of effectiveness, particularly in humid environments. Even the so called N95 are limited.

    Also, the caving world has been going into the bats environment world wide for years with few health affects.

    Except in limited instances, I am with you on masks. My wife and I wore them into the ophthalmologist’s facility Tuesday and it was purely a feel good experience where even the technicians realized it was to keep the government satisfied only so they could be doing business.

  • gmmay70

    The argument about the size of viral particles only works if you think that the respiratory system is somehow able to eject viral particles free of any other bodily residue. When discussing the size of particles that a mask captures, you have to consider the size of the droplets containing the virus, not the virus itself.

    This is not to say that masks are that effective, given the arguments in the post and by some of the commenters, but that viral particles don’t soar through the air on their own.

  • Cotour

    Andrew W:

    Your projection of 2million Americans dead in the next three years due to Corona 19 seems to be lagging.

    You need 55,000 dead per month to get near your “Goal” / projection.

    Will there be a exponential sweeping death wave across the country at some point?

  • Andrew_W

    Cotour. The US lock-downs, as they were, could not be maintained indefinitely, and we’re seeing them lifted, I expect a corresponding lift in cases in a week or two. The point will be moot though, a vaccine will be produced and distributed in 6 – 18 months, and I acknowledged that if that happened that number of Covid deaths would not happen.

  • Cotour

    Q: That being said, how did you arrive at the 55,000 dead per month to begin with?

    Q2: And why did you not calculate the time in which we live into your prognostication?

  • Andrew _W

    What rate of death and infection will people tolerate before reacting to reduce that rate? That’s how societies work when dealing with a problem, it’s why we swing back and forth between right and left of center government.
    In democracy it’s all about balancing interests and compromise. The fanaticis of the extremes don’t have a good connection with reality. Adjusted for population that 55,000/month is about where the Swedes are.

  • bill farley

    Robert, as you mostly likely already know, the face mask fraud is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg. But getting the true story is difficult if not impossible because the people involved are rich, powerful and control governmental and socialist media censorship. My favorite youtube channel right now is Amazing Polly. Her latest is called “Guess Who is Calling the Shots on Human Experimentation ?” It winds up with Bill Gates, the un-elected, totally unaccountable de facto world health commissioner. I didn’t vote for him, did you? After suffering through Windows Vista I wouldn’t have elected him dog catcher.

  • John

    People in my area seem to love masks. I see most if not all people wearing them outside while I’m out jogging. The elderly man or woman out for a walk alone has one. Couples out for a stroll holding hands while both wear a mask. Happy families outside together with everybody masked up.

    It’s the new effortless way to virtue signal. “I care” “I’m one of the cool kids” “I’m saving the world and defeating COVID” “I’m doing something!”

    If a politician were to call for requiring masks outdoors, sadly I’d bet 40-60% in this area would support it.

    God help us.

  • Phill O

    There is an extremely important point about this time of a pandemic:

    We have kept a large number of people alive that would not have been during previous pandemics! These are the people dying from Covid-19. Mind you, these people would be the ones that a regular flu would have killed without “The Flu Vaccine”.

    So, it is very hard to compare death rates because these folk make it higher than it would have been; ceterus peribus

  • Andrew-Winter

    I spent 7.5 yrs as an armed guard at a nuclear powerplant. I was required to go into hostile nuclear environments as a part of my job duties. After that I spent four years as a reccon specialist in the Armor Branch, my duties included monitoring for Nuclear Biological and Chemical threats, and in some cases countering them. Later in life I worked for seven years as a Janitor in the clean room of a company that makes medical devices. I consider this to make me something of a subject matter expert on Hostile NBC environments.

    Two words govern all the base line precautions for all three hostile environments. Concentration and Dosage. We are told to wear masks to prevent us from spreading COVID-19 just in case we are positive but asymptomatic.

    If you are positive yet asymptomatic you can assume that the concentration and dosage you received in your initial infection to be low enough that your body successfully fought it off, at least once.

    BUT, when your asymptomatic, yet infected, self dons that mask you are risking death. This is why:

    Assuming you are infected, each time you exhale into that mask you are exhaling live virus PLUS moisture into that mask. The Virus, in a warm wet environment with a massive surface area, (because it is fiberous), where the virus now lives and multiplies. THEN, each time you inhale you breath in a greater and greater concentration of live virus which means a greater and greater dosage. Each time you INHALE you risk exposure to that virus all over again, but each breath you take in increases the concentration and dosage you are exposed to. After while, guess what? You become symptomatic, but because you falsely believed that mask to be safe you delay a visit to a doctor, you go symptomatic and you die.

    The masks, worn for the recommended reasons are a damn death trap. It’s like strapping a petri dish, with a one way filter (in) to your face. I won’t wear one. If I am positive I wish to survive. If I am not positive I do not need to wear one.

    I have been accosted in public and called names because I was not wearing a mask.

  • Cotour

    Andrew-Winter

    All excellent points re: concentration and dosage.

    This morning I was walking and a very nice older lady who I know is wagging her finger at me as she approaches, she wearing her wrap around cloth mask and me not wearing anything. Keeping in mind that we are outdoors and there is a breeze and no one is close to either of us.

    “Very bad” she says to me as we both stop for a moment as we pass each other. “Very crazy” I say to her and point out that we are in the out of doors and there is NO ONE else within 100 feet of us. Still in NYC there is substantial fear.

  • Andrew_W

    Andrew-Winter: . . . where the virus now lives and multiplies.
    Wrong. Viruses only multiply inside host cells, and the proportion of the virus exhaled is a tiny fraction of that in the body.

  • TheDude

    Andrew-Winter – yeah, listen to the other Andrew guy. Viruses can’t reproduce outside of a host cell. Absolutely cannot. The fact that you don’t know this and are using increased viral load as an argument against mask use is…astounding. Misinformed or intentionally misleading – words that are the hallmarks of the anti-mask “movement”.
    You all need to grow up and for once in your lives think about someone else for a change.

  • Kathy

    I thought the reason for masks is the long incubation period of this virus, plus the fact that so many people are asymptomatic carriers. So you can have the virus WITHOUT KNOWING IT. Which is why you should wear a mask to avoid UNKNOWINGLY infecting others. If you wait to wear a mask until you actually have symptoms, you’ve probably already infected some other people.

    Could you address this, please? Thanks!

  • Beverly

    To Kathy’s point: if the only requirement for mask-wearing is that you MIGHT be infected with something, you must ALWAYS wear a darn mask for the rest of your LIFE.

    Because you never know, do you? and guess what, there is a whole zoo of pathogens/germs you are carrying at all times: it’s what we breathe all day, every day.

    This, my friend, is why you have an immune system, mucous membranes, skin, etc.

    Sigh. Logic never seems to be wanted on the voyage.

  • Andrew_W

    Beverly, it’s called assessing the risk, it does require some thought. for instance if you’re in a crowded venue the chances are far higher of you being at risk of contracting the virus than if you’re by yourself or walking in a not very crowded park.

    Sigh, and you criticize other peoples logic.

  • Andrew _W

    That’s the risk of contracting or passing on the virus if you have it.

  • TheDude

    Kathy, you are correct. Beverly, you are a COVIDIOT.
    Wearing a mask would not necessarily be prudent if we were not in the middle of global pandemic. Once this passes, nobody will really care whether or not you choose to wear a mask. It is great that you have a robust and functioning immune system. Not everyone does. And wearing a mask in the midst of a global pandemic can help to protect the more vulnerable among us. Even with a robust and functioning immune system you can become infected and spread the virus to others.
    Not sure why the COVIDIOTs don’t seem to be able to grasp this concept. Or perhaps it is that they don’t really care and can’t comprehend the concept of doing something for the benefit of others.

  • commodude

    TheDude,

    Perhaps we’ve read the studies which state the masks accomplish absolutely nothing at best and are counterproductive at worst and are going with science in lieu of following the sheep.

    Sorry, but the mask issue is a means for control and psychological engagement, nothing more.

  • TheDude: Read the rules for commenting. No insults allowed. I do not tolerate ad hominem attacks. This is a warning. If you do it again, I will ban you for a week. If you do it a third time, its bye-bye baby, forever.

    If you want to have a discussion here, you have to act like an adult. If you can’t go somewhere else.

  • TheDude

    commondude – You are also a COVIDIOT. Grow up. Not everyone is out to get you. Go see a therapist. Some of us actually want to help save others.

    Robert – Get stuffed. You are apparently the king of the COVIDIOTS. This entire site is an insult to science, human decency and general intelligence. You and your supporters are acting like entitled and delusional children. What you are pushing is harmful to society. You are certainly within your rights to be a complete and utter moron and spout nonsense on the internet in an attempt to enrich yourself from people that you manage to dupe into giving you donations. You are also within your rites to ban me from your site. So please go ahead and do so. I only came across this site while trying to find masks to buy on the open market. You see, I am a hospital worker and have to purchase all of my own PPE on the internet….so that I can take care of people dying from COVID, many of whom reject the same science as you and your idiotic followers. I certainly wouldn’t wish this disease on anyone, including you and your fellow idiots. I do wish that you all would give up your victim complexes and ridiculous conspiracy theories for the benefit of society. Otherwise I might just get to see you, or someone you love, as I thrust a tube down your throat because you can no longer breath on your own.
    It’s all fine and good when you can be a keyboard warrior and spout utter crap on the internet. When you are drowning in your own blood and mucus and gasping for air, maybe you will come around.
    Don’t worry, I won’t be coming back. Ban me all the same, but I won’t be coming back.

  • TheDude: That’s it. You are banned for a week. Civil conversation is not achieved by going around throwing insults.

    This my workplace. You need to abide by my rules. If you come back in a week (which you will be welcome to do) and fail to do so, you will be banned forever.

  • commodude

    Robert,

    I’ve been seeing this type of behavior in person in the workplace as well as online. Logic and science can’t calm the scared herd.

    The MSM has done it’s job well, they learned from one of the best, LTG Nathan Bedford Forrest “Git ’em skeered and keep the skeer in ’em”

    It’s utter fear being projected as being tough. It gets old.

  • Michael C

    In response to Andrew-Winter and Andrew _W, both of you are correct. A mask is a filter, filters capture and contain the virus. If I am breathing out the virus while wearing a mask some portion of the virus is retained in the mask and just as on any surface for a period of time is considered a “live” virus. The longer I wear the mask the greater the concentration residing in the mask, the amount of the virus is the mask is increased or multiplies. The virus in the mask, while “live” does not replicate or reproduce, this occurs only in the host cell. The question remains does this concentration of the virus reach a point where it is counterproductive to reducing the chances of virus transmission to others or producing negative consequences to the asymptotic mask wearer? If so, how long does it take? Is the time dependent on the type of mask, environment etc. Until these and other issues with mask wearing for everyone on actual virus transmission, not just the blockage of droplets, I think that requiring masks for everyone is premature.

  • wayne

    TheDude–

    Ref: “… I am a hospital worker and have to purchase all of my own PPE on the internet…”

    Yeah, right. That’s the ticket, you’re a hospital worker and you have to buy all your PPE on the internet.
    If you have a license of any sort, it needs to be pulled.

    Jon Lovitz
    “Pathological Liar”
    Tonight Show 3-28-1985
    https://youtu.be/pkYNBwCEeH4
    2:29

  • wayne

    TheDude–

    yeah, that’s the ticket, you’re “…. a hospital worker and have to purchase all of my own PPE on the internet…”
    Sure you do. Come back next week and tell us all about it, or not. I won’t remember you in about 15 seconds….

    Jon Lovitz
    Pathological Liar
    The Tonight Show 3-28-85
    https://youtu.be/pkYNBwCEeH4
    2:29

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