WOW Laredo

[FrogFan]

Where I'm struggling is that if you're asymptomatic, then you're not coughing or sneezing. I get that if you're coughing and sneezing, you should wear a mask, but in that case, you have symptoms, and the "experts" have always said that if you have symptoms, you should wear a mask. I also don't get how simply talking results in sputum flying around. I guess if you're close enough to someone who is yelling at you, you might get hit with something.

Typhoid Mary was a cook, who worked for seven families. I can see how a sick cook could end up spreading disease.

I don't mean to be argumentative and I don't mean to rant. Like others, I've lost respect for our experts who have been telling us for weeks why we should not wear masks unless we were sick or caring for sick people. That made sense to me. I continue to struggle with this latest twist in direction, especially if, now, I could be fined if I go out without a mask (I don't have any), to say nothing of the 10 million people who are now unemployed at the direction of our experts.

[srothstein]

I'm struggling to understand how an asymptomatic person infects others, and how wearing a "mask" stops it.

The problem appears to be that it takes several days for you to start showing symptoms after you catch the virus, and some people never do. Best historical example I can think of is Typhoid Mary. She had typhoid but never showed any symptoms. She is blamed for infecting 51 people directly. So I believe them when they say someone who is currently asymptomatic could be infecting people.

The concept of wearing a mask to not infect others is based on the belief that the disease spreads most commonly by the virus being carried in water drops when an infected person exhales, sneezes, or coughs. After a few feet, the water droplets evaporate or break up, leaving the virus exposed to be picked up by someone else. The cloth mask will catch most of these water droplets before they get far enough to evaporate and leave the virus exposed. It means the mask itself gets contaminated and should be trashed or disinfected.

I thought that was what I said. Do you have me on ignore?

I'm struggling to understand how an asymptomatic person infects others, and how wearing a "mask" stops it.

The idea being that when a person coughs, sneezes or even talks, sputum flies into the air. A mask stops this sputum. It has been found that asymptomatic people can spread the virus, even though they show no signs of having it. This is one of the reasons it spreads so much.

No, I wanted to include how an asymptomatic person can be other than just a statement of it. The question of how appeared to be a bigger part than just why where the mask. I figured the example would also help because it shows that this is not made up and has been known to happen in the past. Just a little more detail to make it easier to understand.

[Odiferous]

I also don't get how simply talking results in sputum flying around. I guess if you're close enough to someone...

Talking involves forcefully expelling air from the lungs. The moisture in that air carries the bad stuff. You get bigger droplets carrying further with coughs and sneezes, but there are more folks saying now that 6' isn't sufficient to stop transmission, even just from talking, without some barrier.
Besides, nearly everyone I know coughs and sneezes occasionally, even when they aren't sick.

I've lost respect for our experts who have been telling us for weeks why we should not wear masks unless we were sick or caring for sick people.

First they had to get people to stop panic-buying PPE that we need to keep the healthcare system running. If anyone had been saying "don't buy N95, sew an inferior DIY mask instead" on day 1, no one would have listened.

[jmorris]

I'm struggling to understand how an asymptomatic person infects others, and how wearing a "mask" stops it.

Air flow from a person without & with a mask.



Oh, and I'll be going with this.

[03Lightningrocks]

I also don't get how simply talking results in sputum flying around. I guess if you're close enough to someone...

Talking involves forcefully expelling air from the lungs. The moisture in that air carries the bad stuff. You get bigger droplets carrying further with coughs and sneezes, but there are more folks saying now that 6' isn't sufficient to stop transmission, even just from talking, without some barrier.
Besides, nearly everyone I know coughs and sneezes occasionally, even when they aren't sick.

I've lost respect for our experts who have been telling us for weeks why we should not wear masks unless we were sick or caring for sick people.

First they had to get people to stop panic-buying PPE that we need to keep the healthcare system running. If anyone had been saying "don't buy N95, sew an inferior DIY mask instead" on day 1, no one would have listened.

This does not make it OK for our government to blatantly lie to us. Americans have gotten so accustomed to our government lying to us that we just accept it.