Mask or no mask

[strangesam]

Alpha1, funny and true in a morbid sort of way

Not true though is it, the vaccine stops serious illness.

No, the Vaccine lowers the risk of serious illness, however if you have exiting conditions (including age), you can still end up in ICU.

A GP friend of mine explained it (vaccination) as, it gives you a 50% less chance of catching it and becoming symptomatic, and if you do, a 50% less chance of ending up in hospital.

Given a FFP3 mask reduces my chance of catching it significantly more than the vaccine ( I saw the abstract of a study on ICU staff, which gave fitted FFP3 masks better than 98% protection, 50x less chance of catching it), for me a well fitting FFP2/FFP3 mask makes lots of sense.

I'm vaccinated as well, but I work in education, which is a plague pit at the best of times, and unlike healthcare, we don't get the good PPE, or priority for vaccines, or supposedly* guaranteed pay if we catch Covid and are forced to take months off work.


*I've heard good and bad about the NHS actually paying staff disabled by catching covid.

[Rarms]

Alpha1, funny and true in a morbid sort of way

Not true though is it, the vaccine stops serious illness.

No, the Vaccine lowers the risk of serious illness, however if you have exiting conditions (including age), you can still end up in ICU.

A GP friend of mine explained it (vaccination) as, it gives you a 50% less chance of catching it and becoming symptomatic, and if you do, a 50% less chance of ending up in hospital.

Given a FFP3 mask reduces my chance of catching it significantly more than the vaccine ( I saw the abstract of a study on ICU staff, which gave fitted FFP3 masks better than 98% protection, 50x less chance of catching it), for me a well fitting FFP2/FFP3 mask makes lots of sense.

I'm vaccinated as well, but I work in education, which is a plague pit at the best of times, and unlike healthcare, we don't get the good PPE, or priority for vaccines, or supposedly* guaranteed pay if we catch Covid and are forced to take months off work.


*I've heard good and bad about the NHS actually paying staff disabled by catching covid.

Never understood the mask idea.

I work with saw dust, all my guys need a decent mask, generally silicon or rubber rimmed to provide good contact with the face, and removable/replaceable filters, they cost far more, and appear far superior to a paper mask.

On top of this, they are face fit tested to ensure that the mask does seal well and provide protection. Protection from a visible particle of dust/wood.

A paper mask, or a piece of fabric can afford nothing near the protection level that these face fitted masks can provide, especially to a particle that cannot be seen with the naked eye.

I cannot see they are any more than a placebo.

[Christel]

We are not talking about a papermask, we are talking about ffp3 masks.

[channel12]

Nothing more than a comfort blanket

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/0 ... id-spread/

In the early days of covid there was desperate shortage of PPE of all types for the NHS and they didn't people buying FFFP3 masks. The wear a simple face covering was an attempt to be seen as doing something, a sort of placebo effect, which largely worked with many.

When I had to enter an enclosure to inspect completed asbestos stripping I was wearing something much better than a cloth mask.

[snayperskaya]

we are talking about ffp3 masks.

Which the vast majority of people aren't wearing, they are using the flimsy things that do next to bugger all and I've even seen someone walk into a shop with a 1980's vintage Man Utd scarf round their pie-hole!

[toffe wrapper]

I am lucky face fit tested FFP3 & better all on hand.

How ever the rational behind Mass mask wearing is not to protect the wearer but others.
The mask as long as its a double layer restricts how far YOUR breath & droplets within are projected.
It is not to act as any kind of RPE.
Masks combined with distancing, hand hygiene & excellent touch point cleaning all helps,

So any one with out good reason to not wear a mask when required, or not wearing it properly covering nose & mouth is basically saying F***you to everyone else.

[strangesam]

How ever the rational behind Mass mask wearing is not to protect the wearer but others.
The mask as long as its a double layer restricts how far YOUR breath & droplets within are projected.
It is not to act as any kind of RPE.
Masks combined with distancing, hand hygiene & excellent touch point cleaning all helps,

So any one with out good reason to not wear a mask when required, or not wearing it properly covering nose & mouth is basically saying F***you to everyone else.

This...

Surgeons don't wear surgical masks to protect themselves from the patient, they wear them to protect the patient from any pathogens the surgeon may be exhaling.

To protect themselves when required, surgical staff wear FFP2 or FFP3 masks.

The things have proved effective enough for 100 years of surgery. They are not pointless. They have developed over that time, from cloth masks, to multi layer cloth masks, to the current style of non-woven membrane.. but the principle has remained the same. They are worn to protect other people from the wearer.

[Pete]

And virus particles are carried on the water aerosols that we exhale, so anything that catches some of these, whether FFp3 spec or something off a market stall, has to be better than nothing....it's not rocket science. Neither is frequently washing/sanitising your hands and keeping your distance from others.
Some people seem to think it's business as usual from midnight tomorrow, and that is completely beyond me...just watch the infection rate over the next couple of weeks.

Pete

[channel12]

toffee wrapper

Yes we all understand the principles but if the majority give up wearing masks but you keep wearing your mask to protect others but it doesn't protect you why are you doing it?

Unless you wear a FFFP3 mask in public which usually have an exhaust valve so now you are properly protecting yourself but not those around you.

It's all a bit a dilemma, protect others or protect yourself.

[strangesam]

FFP2/FFP3 masks are available without exhaust valves,

If they do have exhaust valves a small piece of masking tape solves that problem.