I stated in several forum replies last week: it is common sense that a mask reduces infection both from and to other people. Anything is intuitively better than nothing. Apparently evidence now belatedly supports this view. 

 

Search and read the news yourself. I won't post a link. 

 

Maybe this will end the TVF debate on this subject for those willing to accept common sense. Or not.

 

Erring on the side of caution is often the best policy. 

 

It also teaches us that listening to 'experts' and government officials without question is not always the best course either. 

 

Each person must judge their own personal risk factors and act accordingly, without panic but with informed knowledge as it becomes available. 

 

The more we learn, the safer we will be. 

52 minutes ago, RocketDog said:

It also teaches us that listening to 'experts' and government officials without question is not always the best course either. 

So if you aren't listening to the science of masks, are you listening to amateurs who came up with the studies you refuse to link to?

 

Wear a mask if you are sick or have a pimple. If not, don't.

 

 

1 hour ago, Farangwithaplan said:

So if you aren't listening to the science of masks, are you listening to amateurs who came up with the studies you refuse to link to?

 

Wear a mask if you are sick or have a pimple. If not, don't.

 

 

Hong Kong scientists recently put it very succinctly: absence of evidence is not the same as evidence of absence.

 

The supposed lack of evidence is due to a lack of research. But countries where most people do wear face masks seem to be doing a better job of reducing infections than those where most people don't.

4 hours ago, edwardandtubs said:

But countries where most people do wear face masks seem to be doing a better job of reducing infections than those where most people don't.

Nothing to do with masks.

 

Pointless arguing about this anyway. People still claiming wearing the rubbish masks generally available in Thailand is a good thing

Yes.

But the childish idiots say "it is not the law" so deem not to use one.

They should make it a temporary law, and arrest/book violating fools.

Of course it helps. I already posted multiple studies that support that claim. Even the WHO and CDC are considering changing their guidelines after telling all the sheeps not to use a mask. 

 

"Widespread use of nonmedical masks could reduce community transmission. But recommending their broad use could also cause a run on the kind of masks that health care workers desperately need." 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/health/cdc-masks-coronavirus.html

5 hours ago, edwardandtubs said:

Hong Kong scientists recently put it very succinctly: absence of evidence is not the same as evidence of absence.

 

The supposed lack of evidence is due to a lack of research. But countries where most people do wear face masks seem to be doing a better job of reducing infections than those where most people don't.

and  God  is real too, in fact anything you  want to believe without evidence is  true, we  should  all be in an isolation bubble 10 miles  apart dressed  in yellow singing kumbyaaaaa, lack of evidence doesnt mean this is  incorrect.......surely??

21 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

But the childish idiots

nice, why not cretinous morons? or stupid ......insert expletive of choice to make your point....

8 hours ago, RocketDog said:

common sense

does not exist in  quantum mechanics and many other examples where  people thought  "common sense" meant something, luminiferous aether was  all the rage    150  years  ago....common sense there must have been one

5 hours ago, edwardandtubs said:

But countries where most people do wear face masks seem to be doing a better job of reducing infections than those where most people don't.

So you are taking one aspect of very complex Asian lifestyle and assuming that is the sole reason for lack of infection. Correlation does not imply causation.

 

There are a multitude of differences in Asian cultures that are experiencing less current infections that cultures that aren't. But you seem to be ignoring all other differences and focusing on the one thing that is front and centre.

 

By your logic I could declare that countries that eat the most short grain rice have the least infections. I could also declare that countries that consume the most olive oil per capita get the most virus - but I'd be wrong.

 

Why would I be wrong? Italy, Spain and America go through a metric crapload of olive oil and they have the most infections. How is that logic different to your logic on masks?

 

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, Farangwithaplan said:

By your logic I could declare that countries that eat the most short grain rice have the least infections. I could also declare that countries that consume the most olive oil per capita get the most virus - but I'd be wrong.

stop  bringing  logic into this and dont  look at the amount of testing either its  all irrelevant, everyone knows  eating garlic and saying 3  hail Marys  will sort  it????

10 minutes ago, pdtokyo said:

"Even a stopped clock is correct twice a day ..."

Not if its a  digital clock or a  24hour  clock????

Most of us are wearing masks in CM because of the pollution problems, but I would wear one even if there were not any pollution. 

My take is that in the UK for example they don't advocate wearing masks because they don't have enough for everyone so in order not to cause panic they say they are unnecessary

If you are wearing a mask it's not as easy to touch your mouth and nose, why is it the PM is now always seen wearing designer masks?

If you have the virus but don't know it wearing a mask will slow the amount of people you pass it on to

 

Makes perfect sense to me

9 minutes ago, ThaiPauly said:

If you have the virus but don't know it wearing a mask will slow the amount of people you pass it on to

Yes, and in the unlikely scenario when you are in a 7-11 and someone sneezes who is infected, a mask may prevent the droplets from entering your respiratory system.  As I eluded to in another thread, even if a mask only helps 5% of the time, it is worth it, when near other people 

11 hours ago, RocketDog said:

I stated in several forum replies last week: it is common sense that a mask reduces infection both from and to other people. Anything is intuitively better than nothing. Apparently evidence now belatedly supports this view. 

Agree.  I am a late adopter myself, believing the initial western commentary that those healthy need not wear one.  Regardless of whether you're protecting yourself, it's always been clear that you're protecting others by not exposing them to your ills. 

 

And that's the point now: Wearing a mask today tells everyone else that you respect them enough to not want to expose what you may have to them.  Conversely, not wearing a mask tells them you don't give a freak about them or their health.  Remember that one can have COVID and be asymptomatic, i.e., not even know that you have it.  Just consider why surgeons always were a mask when they're operating on a patient.

 

There are still some farangs in Thailand clinging to their beliefs about freedom of choice and all that.  Personally, I'd much prefer to be in room full of strangers where everyone donned a mask, as opposed to being in a room with those not wearing masks. 

57 minutes ago, Skallywag said:

Yes, and in the unlikely scenario when you are in a 7-11 and someone sneezes who is infected, a mask may prevent the droplets from entering your respiratory system.  As I eluded to in another thread, even if a mask only helps 5% of the time, it is worth it, when near other people 

trouble is that their effluent also inundates the exposed facial skin. So don't forget to follow up surface disinfecting your noggin just before and again after removing the mask later on...

4 hours ago, Farangwithaplan said:

So you are taking one aspect of very complex Asian lifestyle and assuming that is the sole reason for lack of infection. Correlation does not imply causation.

 

There are a multitude of differences in Asian cultures that are experiencing less current infections that cultures that aren't. But you seem to be ignoring all other differences and focusing on the one thing that is front and centre.

 

By your logic I could declare that countries that eat the most short grain rice have the least infections. I could also declare that countries that consume the most olive oil per capita get the most virus - but I'd be wrong.

 

Why would I be wrong? Italy, Spain and America go through a metric crapload of olive oil and they have the most infections. How is that logic different to your logic on masks?

 

 

 

 

Now even the "experts" have done a u-turn but to save face are breaking the news slowly rather than admit they were wrong all along.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52126735

 

Feel free to continue making a fool of yourself by denying what was obvious all along though.

The WHO's advice about there being no need to wear masks, and the same advice from a number of governments, was based on trying to save what masks they had for the frontline medical staff - and quite rightly so, too. The drawback is that the WHO and governments are issuing advice on the basis of what's best for a country, or even for the whole world, it isn't medical advice aimed at any one individual's best interests. Most masks won't keep the virus out completely, but if you're near an infected person they will undoubtedly help to reduce the viral load you receive, which in turn can mean the difference between full blown Covid-19 or exhibiting only mild symptoms, or indeed none at all.

17 hours ago, RocketDog said:

The more we learn, the safer we will be. 

it is pointless to tell some of the <deleted> on this forum to wear a mask. i have been doing for six weeks. just yesterday someone started on me again. i am not even going to look at this topic.  

 

"Look they still think masks do nothing on the TV forum."

 

"He said he read on the TV forum masks do nothing."

 

9 hours ago, Tayaout said:

Of course it helps. I already posted multiple studies that support that claim. Even the WHO and CDC are considering changing their guidelines after telling all the sheeps not to use a mask. 

 

"Widespread use of nonmedical masks could reduce community transmission. But recommending their broad use could also cause a run on the kind of masks that health care workers desperately need." 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/health/cdc-masks-coronavirus.html

Your a Complete Fool, Not to wear one , I hate idiots and Fools 

7 hours ago, ThaiPauly said:

My take is that in the UK for example they don't advocate wearing masks because they don't have enough for everyone so in order not to cause panic they say they are unnecessary

imo the exact reason - they're counting on the folks not to question the idiocy, working so far.. 

Even the N95 0.3 micron cut off masks do not prevent the 0.12 micron wide corona virus passing through and into your lungs. Seondly, the 2 metre distancing is too short considering that a sneeze travels at 44metres per second and a cough at 22metres per second. With a wind or in doors in shopping malls and offices with central airconditiong systems with forced air ventilation ducts, they can travel up to 200metres. Stands to reason when you consider if your friend passes wind you know you can smell the fragrance at the other end of the room. My data comes from the testing organisation plus my experience working with the Germ Warfare establishment and the UK Ministry of Health to solve the legionella outbreak that killed 16 % of patients infected. The masks should be worn by those who are sick or are sneezing and coughing, to act as a baffle to slow down the discharged air.

 

10 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Nothing to do with masks.

 

Pointless arguing about this anyway. People still claiming wearing the rubbish masks generally available in Thailand is a good thing

The problem is with Thailand, not the mask?

There's a reason doctors and nurses wear surgical masks during surgery. They prevent infection, principally to prevent infection of the patient's open wound but it stands to reason that if they prevent germs from a doctor's mouth getting out into a patient, then it likely will prevent germs in the other direction.

16 hours ago, Farangwithaplan said:

Wear a mask if you are sick or have a pimple. If not, don't.

I am not sick... I don't think I have any pimples... and I only recently have put on a mask [2 months].. I bought a good quality one and I can barely breathe... I don't like wearing it. 

 

However, I do not wear it for myself, but for others who are in my proximity the rare time I go out for necessary shopping.

 

I wear it so that others will not feel uncomfortable or in danger as they do not know me or know if I am sick or not... 

Most sensible people in Bangkok have been wearing a mask for months, due to the PM2.5 pollution!  I feel naked if I go out without one.

If i have to go anywhere I will wear a mask.

If someone sneezes next to me I have a better chance of not catching what they have.

Don't care what u say (why do operating theatre crew wear masks ?? 

When I read posts, or hear comments, from persons who shun the wearing of face masks, and repeatedly try to defend the ignorance of their ill-informed stance, I am reminded of an oft-used quotation from my English teacher at Grammar school, "It is better to keep your mouth shut, and be thought a fool, than to open it, and remove all doubt"!

28 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Most sensible people in Bangkok have been wearing a mask for months, due to the PM2.5 pollution!  I feel naked if I go out without one.

 

were people wearing air tight masks with appropriate filters? follow the science not the herd.