Show me the evidence, or can you not? Why did you feel the need to call me "Timmy"? What was the reason for that? Why did you make assumptions about me?

Try looking at what I am disputing and not take it as a personal attack. And also stop being condescending. What is wrong with you?

Systematically dragged down by the lawmakers

Certainly. Wearing a good quality mask significantly reduces particle emission and distance, which can only be a good thing on multiple fronts.

"Unsurprisingly, they found N95 masks to be the most effective at reducing the horizontal spread of a cough. The N95 masks reduced a cough’s initial velocity by up to a factor of 10 and limit its spread to between 0.1 and 0.25 meters.

An uncovered cough, in contrast, can travel up to 3 meters, but even a simple disposable mask can bring this all the way down to 0.5 meters.

“Even if a mask does not filter out all the particles, if we can prevent clouds of such particles from traveling very far, it’s better than not doing anything,” said Simha. “In situations where sophisticated masks are not available, any mask is better than no mask at all for the general public in slowing the spread of infection.”

Who'd have thunk it.

[Link]

Oh do they?

More pointless and condescending hair splitting from someone looking to annoy rather than to make an actual point. They used N95 masks in the study. It wasn't a European study. You seem to keep arguing points not made, with people not making them.

I well understand that in Europe we'd be looking to reach for a FFP3 mask, which for all intents and purposes serves the exact same purpose and is the mask(s) I use and own too.

The study was designed to demonstrate that quality masks (and to a lesser extent other masks and methods) do limit a coughs velocity, distance and can dramatically impact the number of particles spread. I posted it as it may guide people or be of interest to them at least. It's not an 'in' for yet another argument about nothing.

Edited by BlueJay (26 Sep 2020 12.33am)

Moved on from the N95 non point then have we... Now more condescending takes..

People are capable of buying whatever mask they wish. I already stated what mask I have and of course in posting the above study am conveying that some offer more protection than others. Again, you're not revealing some grand secret or understanding. You're literally stating what I and the study already said. Personally, wear a mask that best protects yourself and others. Lesser standard masks offer less, but some protection. That's it.

So now the 'masks don't work' idea is out of the window suddenly you've pivoted to the 'speculative' "They are preventing nothing as the virus spreads just as easily on surfaces which have been touched." Well then be careful about what you touch. It's a bit easier to clean your hands than the inside of your lungs. All you can do as an individual is try to do your best by others and yourself and be as careful as you can. Hunting for reasons not to bother isn't particularly useful.

Wearing a good quality mask during a pandemic is very obviously a better idea than not and as shown has firm scientific rationale behind it, as is being careful in a sensible fashion in order to protect yourself and others. If you're too geared towards forcing a certain take that you don't see that then just get on with whatever approach you personally want to follow and do as you wish. I'm not interested in continuing this endless back and forth really. Let's end it there with points expressed.

Edited by BlueJay (26 Sep 2020 3.52pm)

But stopping next to nothing must still be better than stopping nothing at all. That is the whole point. If particles from a mouth are hypothetically a 1000 from a cough to 3m without a mask and say 700 and 2m with the simplest covering; we know what's going to have less potential to spread the virus. Minimal yes but still less risk. One less infection is good.