So, what's the DU consensus re: Mask, no-mask?

[UTUSN]

Haven't heard what the review by CDC has concluded, am aware of the arguments that they're not effective for general use & will deprive health care workers. However, construction workers and others use them for their jobs and some of us-randoms happened to buy a packet of a hundred paper ones back when (I forget why) and never used them so they're here (with some dust).

What does DU say? (I need to go to the grocery/pharmacy tomorrow.)

77 votes, 2 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Mask at the grocery store
	71 (92%)
	No mask
	6 (8%)
	2 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[msongs]

1. if ya feel better to do it, do it. homemade types tho, leave pro masks for the pros nt

[UTUSN]

3. Well, the ones I'm talking about are not "pro" just flimsy paper. I could home-make

some with printer paper or something if I have to but would have to staple them or use duct tape?!1

[Leghorn21]

7. This looks seriously doable, U:

Plus, cheeze, it’s just a genius idea, too!

[UTUSN]

9. Excellent coverage and looks "pro" - thanks!1

I get an odd satisfaction, however, from using up stuff on hand, like, not letting things go to waste.

[msongs]

5. sorry to be confusing, by pro I mean hospital type masks from med suppliers. lots of

mask instructions online including some made with a cloth or bandana rolled up and using rubber bands so no sewing needed.

[UTUSN]

8. 's awRight, I'm a Pisces easily confused!1

[shanti]

2. And nitrile gloves n/t

[BigmanPigman]

26. Yes!

Gloves, mask, social distancing and STAY HOME unless really, really important.

[Kali]

4. I'm not feeling the need to do that.

but then I am not really in a risk group, for catching or spreading it so...

[UTUSN]

6. Thanks, even in democracy, some voices count more than numbers: Yours.

***********On second thought, WHAT? You're not old and decrepit like me?!1

[Kali]

10. oh yeah I am old and decrepit

just not THAT old and decrepit.

[UTUSN]

11. Well, thanks a lot - SARCASM!1

[lagomorph777]

43. If you don't wear a mask, you're placing yourself in a risk group.

[greenjar_01]

57. How are you not in a risk group for spreading it? You're human, no?

[Kali]

61. I am pretty isolated, not likely to aquire it it the first place.

rural town grocery less than once per week, hardware store less than that, feed store even less (and husband usually makes that run). the only "social visit" is to an older gentleman family friend and that is to drop a few groceries for him less than weekly. he would likely be the canary for my household. I have been a lifelong hand washer, in good health. dry climate, only 4 cases in county so far and they are associated with travel/military base 40 or 50 miles away in a different town.

biggest risk to me are assholes from Tucson/Pima County traveling to hoard TP - I haven't even been down that aisle in well over a month. we have always bought larger quantities of paper products when on sale, still have two 12 packs of mega rolls. that will likely last at least another month or two unless somebody gets the runs.

[Raine]

12. I'm going to make a mask (haven't made it yet but) until

I get it made I'll use a scarf and I'm wearing gloves when I out to the market.

[UTUSN]

13. Am drawing the line at gloves for now.

[ProfessorGAC]

36. Same Here

I have been assiduously careful about avoiding close contact with anybody, other than my wife. Not perfect, but super careful.
If I'm going somewhere where I think I might not be able to avoid contact ( unlikely) I might do a scarf.
Haven't so far, though.
I will definitely NOT wear surgical or dust masks when front line folks are still short on supply.
By the time the supply issues is resolved, none of us may need them anymore.
The time it's taking to refill the supply chain is ridiculous.

[quickesst]

39. your choice....

.... And all well and good until you're standing in line and do not notice the person walk up behind you who spontaneously coughs or sneezes straight at you. Again, your choice.

[ProfessorGAC]

46. Scare Tactics Are Not Productive

[quickesst]

49. sorry, but what you call scare tactics.....

.... I call the reality we live in right now. My intent was definitely not to scare. It was only to suggest a possibility you might not have thought of. Given the many posts of yours that I have read, and for the most part, appreciated, it never entered my mind that you would be susceptible to any type of scare tactic.

[karynnj]

54. The NYT directions are really complete

I have not sewn anything for decades and don't have a sewing machine, but I have now made 6 masks from some old aprons that I was not using.

https://www.nytimes.com/article/how-to-make-face-mask-coronavirus.html

[ooky]

14. I went to the grocery drive up today and saw a number of shoppers wearing masks.

First time I have seen people using them in our area.

[UTUSN]

15. Have seen some scattershot ones over the past couple of weeks, increasingly.

[UTUSN]

16. *****Hookay, *RESULTS* ---------- bowing to the overwhelming majority, *will* do the mask.

[quickesst]

17. my personal opinion....

.... Is that you would be a fool not to wear one. My personal opinion.

[UTUSN]

18. Alrighty then - done!1

[womanofthehills]

19. Totally agree - I will not go into a store without a mask

Why take a chance when a simple cloth mask you can make in a few minutes (instructions all over the web) can block at least 60% of a virus entering your nose where you have ACE 2 receptors just waiting to grab that virus and pull it into your body. Dr Zeneca Emmanuel was on Lawrence’s show last night saying we all need to be wearing masks to keep droplets in and droplets from going out. He also said when you are wearing a mask you are reminding people around you that this is a very dangerous virus and that you are conscientious.

[Cha]

29. Yes.. very important. Thank you!

He also said when you are wearing a mask you are reminding people around you that this is a very dangerous virus and that you are conscientious.

[quickesst]

37. excellent reply

Also, when I see someone else wearing a mask in the store, I am reminded that they are protecting others from them, since it has been known to everyone, except apparently the governor of Georgia, that the virus can be spread by someone showing no symptoms of the virus.

[lagomorph777]

44. A selfish fool. It's not only to protect yourself.

You could be asymptomatic for a couple of weeks and spread it to many many people.

[quickesst]

58. Exactly

Unless you are the governor of Georgia, everyone already knows that asymptomatic people can spread the virus.

For whatever the reason they cite, this anti-mask rhetoric is also foolish, and possibly dangerous.

[Totally Tunsie]

20. COVID numbers are getting higher and closer to where I live.

It's time to don the mask to be both protected and protective.

[Withywindle]

21. My family is using homemade cloth ones

Mom is a wiz on the sewing machine, thankfully. She's made a bunch for donation. Definitely not medical grade but better than nothing. You've got nothing to lose by using them when you have to go out in public.

[Progressive Law]

22. Mask everywhere. To protect other people, not necessarily yourself.

[lunatica]

23. I sewed myself a mask even though I have my groceries delivered

my daily life hasn’t changed very much at all. I was pretty much a shut-in hermit before so almost nothing has changed. But if I do go out I’ll take it along and use it. I will also use some rubber gloves. Mostly to remind myself not to touch my face. The supermarket I go to says they have set up hand sanitizing stations all around the store so that will be available.

I say it’s wiser to err on the side of caution.

[rpannier]

24. I live in Japan. Used to be in Korea. Wear the Mask!

It helps to protect others from you when you wear it.

[roamer65]

67. Wear the mask in public areas, like pharmacies and grocery stores.

It helps us keep our bugs to ourselves.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

25. Wear it for others, and for yourself.

If you’re going to get infected, it’s probably better to minimize the initial viral load as much as possible.

Does a high viral load or infectious dose make covid-19 worse?

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2238819-does-a-high-viral-load-or-infectious-dose-make-covid-19-worse/#ixzz6IRCe9VAC

It is early days, but if the infectious dose doesn’t correlate with the severity of disease symptoms, this would mark covid-19 out as different from influenza, MERS and SARS.

For influenza, a higher infectious dose has been associated with worse symptoms. It has been tested by exposing volunteers to escalating doses of influenza virus in a controlled setting and carefully monitoring them over several weeks. This hasn’t been done with covid-19, and is unlikely to happen, given its severity.

[BigmanPigman]

27. If you have a couple masks the germs on them will naturally

die in two weeks, so rotate using your masks and recycle them. Keep them in the direct sun and the UV rays will kill them even faster. Same goes with the glove. Even cloth gloves are better than nothing. Always wash your hands before and after you put them on (both your mask or gloves). I have a few masks and can reuse them for months if I have to since I am staying home 99% of the time.

[safeinOhio]

28. Very proud to wear the ones my GF made for me.

Made with style, care and love. They are beautiful and functional. Pocket to put filter in, cloth ties as I don't care for elastic and choice of cool patterns. She has given them to friends, family and a local UU group. I couldn't love her anymore than I do. Did I mention, she is a RN too.

[duforsure]

30. From not knowing who has this virus , anywhere,

Why would you not protect yourself AND from others, knowing you could have it, or anyone else could have it. Wear a mask and reduce the spread, period.

[rictofen]

31. I've started wearing one inside stores a couple days ago

It's an N95 I had lying around before the pandemic. There was quite a number of others wearing masks, too.

[Freddie]

32. Found a box of dust masks at home

The consensus from FB is that dust masks are way better than nothing. I haven’t been out of the house in 2.5 weeks but when I finally do I will wear one.

[dewsgirl]

34. This is the only kind of masks I could find, yes the have to

be better than nothing.

[dewsgirl]

33. I've been wearing a mask and gloves to the store for about

two weeks now.

[lagomorph777]

53. Been doing it for 6 weeks here.

[Igel]

35. Mask provides limited protection.

It's not quantified. Is it a 0.5% percent reduction in risk? Much less? Considerably more?

You have them and it doesn't bother you, go for it.

Note that everybody says, "The mask reminds you not to touch your face." It's a nice thought, but the (scant) evidence says otherwise. You put the mask on, it's not familiar, it's not comfortable, and you wind up touching your face more often. Less wiping your nose, more adjusting the mask.

That also assumes it's a snug fit, which is a really big deal. Yes, you breathe in and some of the air you get will go through the mask. But some will come in around the edges, where there's less resistance to air flow.

[Jersey Devil]

38. The only question I have is can you safely reuse them

The only time I go out is to get groceries, gas or to Lowes for fixit supplies and wear a mask (N-95, of which I have 6). Then I let it sit in the garage for at least 3 days (after spraying it with Lysol) and then reuse it. Is that OK?

[RhodeIslandOne]

40. It's probably still better than nothing

I don’t know if inhaling Lysol is great though. I fear some of the cleaners we might as well be bathing in at this point will come back to haunt us.

[roamer65]

68. Buy a UV light.

Or leave them in the the sun. The UV kills all the bugs.

University of Nebraska rigged up a UV sterilization system so they can reuse them.

[Nay]

41. On my last foray the the grocery I did not wear a mask,but of course practiced distancing. Other

people mainly distanced themselves, too, but there are always one or two jerks, right? So, today I'm making a few cloth masks to use from now on when out in public.

[MerryBlooms]

42. Our county in southern Oregon put out a

cloth mask recommendation for all people going out in public.

[aikoaiko]

45. I'm wearing a mask anytime I'm in public and not in my car.

[zackymilly]

47. ...

[link:|

[UTUSN]

48. *****FEEDBACK*** Did the mask thing for first time. It went fine.

(Since this got Kicked up, am posting.)

The store wasn't crowded, about 50-50 of masks vs no-masks. Plexiglass uprights going up at cashiers' sites, but if the thing is airborne it can fly right around the plexi?

Significant #s of masks were bandanas and such. I felt quite natural, though at first some mouth breathing puffed the mask in and out and steamed up my glasses. I got a few odd looks from non-maskers, but I went along not gawking or feeling odd.

ONE BIG PLUS: As often happens, after I had driven from home I discovered I had forgotten the PARTIALS, but with the mask, it DON'T MATTER!1 Haha!1

[Kali]

62. !

[Codeine]

50. It's virus theater.

It makes as much sense as taking off your shoes at the airport.

[obamanut2012]

59. Yup

[dpibel]

64. Yeah, I mean, what do these goofballs know?

The pooled case‐control studies, which focused on the SARS coronavirus (SARS CoV), suggest that implementing barriers to transmission, isolation and hygienic measures are effective with the use of relatively cheap interventions to contain respiratory virus epidemics. We found limited evidence of the superior effectiveness of devices such as the N95 respirator over simple surgical masks. This evidence is supported by a high quality hospital‐based trial (Loeb 2009) which reports non‐inferiority between face barriers. Overall masks were the best performing intervention across populations, settings and threats. More expensive and uncomfortable (especially if worn for long periods) than simple surgical masks, N95 respirators may be useful in very high‐risk situations but additional studies are required to define these situations.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6993921/

[Codeine]

65. When used correctly.

They are rarely used correctly.

[redstatebluegirl]

51. Homemade, don't take one that could save a healthcare provider.

[awesomerwb1]

52. We need billions of masks

If masks were available - YES. We should all be wearing masks and gloves.

[stillcool]

55. I'm kind of having fun..

making masks for the neighbors. Never leave home without one, or two, or three.

[Jirel]

56. Masks are becoming fetishized by people who use them wrong.

Do you have an effective mask? Do you follow actual PPE protocols rigorously? Will you still act like neither you nor anyone else is wearing a mask?

If so, suit yourself. If the answer to any of those is no, you and those around you are likely better off following CDC and WHO guidelines and NOT wearing one.

* An ineffective mask is window dressing that gives false security to the wearer and those around them. That causes them to skimp on other important social distancing measures.

* if you’re doing it wrong - and most people do - you have a higher risk of getting germs where they’re no supposed to go on you and others.

Common stupid things people in masks do:
* lax social distancing.
* pulling the mask down, scratching under it, readjusting it - every one of those is touching their face more with contaminated hands, than if they weren’t wearing a mask
* reusing a mask that has been taken off, or putting it on a surface where it will contaminate other things
* taking a mask off without appropriate PPE protocol, getting the mask’s germs all over themselves.

There’s a good reason CDC and WHO say no, and it ain’t just about the shortage.

[Codeine]

60. I was at a Grocery Outlet and saw a woman

in her nice filtered mask lift the mask, lick her thumb and forefinger, and peel a produce bag off the roll. Just painful to see.

[Kali]

63. magical thinking and fool-yourself actions are popular

if it doesn't really hurt anybody else it doesn't matter, but how long before we start hearing "I wore a mask and gloves 24/7 everywhere, ate pounds of raw garlic and have a whole garage full of toilet paper, but I caught the virus anyway"

[Jirel]

71. The problem is, it can hurt others.

It's a real tossup. If people can be trusted to BEHAVE THEMSELVES while wearing masks, it can't hurt. However, people have that stupid tendency to treat wearing PPE (usually wrong... badly wrong...) as an invincible shield, and abandon all the other important measures.

Some cases in point that I've seen or been hearing about here locally (on a countywide page) in just the past couple days:
* Two groups at the store (why are you in the grocery store in *groups*?) stopping to talk, taking masks down, and chattering at very close distance to each other. About the only thing that didn't happen was hugs.
* In the local HD bathroom, some nitwit with a mask and gloves went to the bathroom, took them all off, laid them on the shared bathroom counter, did their business, washed hands (pretty minimally), and then put all that gear back on.
* Another lady at the grocery store meat counter, who was short, wasn't being heard well by the deli guy. She pulled the mask down and put her hands and chin right up on the top of the deli counter to talk to him.

[Kali]

72. they are always among us

I have been battling the stupidity of livetrap and release of rodents for years. relocating VERMIN to become someone else's problem, (or for the animals to die anyway, at best) so you can feel virtuous is my usual face palm issue.

it is really hard to change behavior, especially when it is motivated by "good intentions."

[spinbaby]

66. How do you stop your glasses from fogging up?

I made a mask from one of those patterns on the Internet and can’t see when I wear it.

[kentuck]

70. Mask.

And at least one glove to push cart or to pick up stuff.

[jmg257]

73. Masks are a given now. Found several good ones in our garage so my family each have a couple.

Skipping the gloves for now - don't have any, so keep wipes constantly handy, to wipe me and any stuff down i handle.