Re: [tlug] GW projects

[Benjamin Kowarsch <trijezdci@example.com>]

On Sun, 3 May 2020 at 21:45, Raymond Wan <rwan.kyoto@example.com> wrote:

On 2/5/2020 2:30 pm, Curt J. Sampson wrote:
> On 2020-05-02 13:41 +0900 (Sat), Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:
>> Raymond Wan writes:
> Regarding masks, here's my current undersanding of them:
>
>> ...[masks] made out of cloth which are pretty much as effective (as
>> long as nobody literally sneezes in your face)...
>
> Wearing a mask like that is hardly more effective at stopping you from
> getting infected when people aren't sneezing directly in your face
> than when they are. But those non-N95 masks are highly effective on a
> societal level: they greatly reduce the chance that _you_ will infect
> someone else.

Your understanding is wrong then.

Masks are effective in reducing the R value, that is the rate at which

an infected person infects other people before they are taken out of

circulation (either by being quarantined or hospitalised).

There are scientific studies on this and you can find the papers online

if you care to look. I can't be bothered now to search for it but there

was a summary of such a study published by multiple media

outlets recently as North American and European politicians

gradually came to the realisation that some kind of mask

wearing directive was one of the tools at their disposal.

The study had investigated how the ratio of people wearing a mask and the

effectiveness of the masks in terms of permeability of viral material impacts

that R value. They published a 2 dimensional graph with the uptake on one

axis and the efficiency of the masks on the other axis. The border between

R>1 and R<1 was drawn in as a curve, the area representing R<1

indicating value pairs reducing infections and the area representing R>1

indicating value pairs increasing infections.

An example was quoted as 60/60, meaning if at least 60% of the population

wears a mask at all times when not at home and the masks are at least 60%

efficient, then the R value would fall below 1.

This may not be of immediate benefit for any given individual, but if you

look at it from a system perspective, it is beneficial for the population as

a whole.

You are not wearing the mask to protect yourself.

You are not even necessarily protecting people you meet.

But you are protecting everybody by contributing to lowering the R value.

That's the whole deal about those masks.

So please, wear one whenever you leave the house.