> Generally speaking the rationale behind masks is heavily flawed and there is yet to be a study to prove that masks help in a pandemic.
This is only anecdotal, but as somebody working in healthcare, mostly with autoimmune compromised patients in ambulate care, there's most certainly been a very noticeable effect among those patients, and even myself.
I will usually get a cold at least once, sometimes twice a year, forcing to take sick days. Yet that last year I wasn't sick once.
We've had to administer way less antibiotics therapies, the hospital stations we work together with are super happy about how well their patients are doing now, particularly the children.
Kind of funny to think about: The way we've been living for a year has always been their way of living. But when we all do it, that apparently even gives a kind of "herd protection" to those who really depend on these measures not to get sick.
> This is only anecdotal, but as somebody working in healthcare, mostly with autoimmune compromised patients in ambulate care, there's most certainly been a very noticeable effect among those patients, and even myself.
And that is certainly due to masks? I ask because there are generally speaking more measures in place, especially in hospitals/nursing homes like fewer visitors (if any) for example.
> We've had to administer way less antibiotics therapies, the hospital stations we work together with are super happy about how well their patients are doing now, particularly the children.
And again, is that due to or despite using masks?
But since I am questioning the rationale, it would be nice if there would be a good explanation why it is better for symptomless people to touch their face more often, wear masks beyond their intended duration and reuse them (because it is impractical otherwise especially with mandatory medical/FFP2 masks)
I didn't specifically point masks out anywhere, it's most certainly the combination of all kinds of measures, but wearing masks and taking care of proper hand hygiene has been a rather normal part of life for many people with autoimmune diseases for a long time before any pandemic came around.
In many Asian countries it's absolutely normal to wear a mask when sick, to prevent further spread possibly to the weaker among society.
That's done not because we like to make people do things, we do that because it's been established as good practice in these circumstances.
> But since I am questioning the rationale, it would be nice if there would be a good explanation why it is better for symptomless people to touch their face more often
A hygiene regime isn't some binary thing where one failure of perfect compliance ruins the whole effort.
Particularly with examples like "touching face more often", why would you even do that? You put on the mask and you leave it on, the constant touching, particularly with dirty hands, is really down to a lot of people being lazy/careless or trying to wear the mask as little as possible.
> wear masks beyond their intended duration and reuse them (because it is impractical otherwise especially with mandatory medical/FFP2 masks)
Their intended duration is, once again, a best case scenario often designed for completely sterile conditions. Depending on the use a FFP2 can easily last a week. Just like surgical masks they can actually be handwashed with soap to get a good reduction of whatever might have collected up in there.
Of course that doesn't work forever, just like this current situation ain't forever.
But one could hope that we learn at least in a couple of places from this. Like the aforementioned example of people who caught something voluntarily wearing a mask, without getting weird looks. Somewhat more readily access to hand-sanitation is also a big plus, when previously a lot of people didn't really care about it, many still don't, even tho that's one of the simplest ways to stay healthier.
> In many Asian countries it's absolutely normal to wear a mask when sick, to prevent further spread possibly to the weaker among society.
"When sick" is an important distinction from the current regime.
> A hygiene regime isn't some binary thing where one failure of perfect compliance ruins the whole effort.
It's exactly like that. You get either infected or you don't. It's binary, however you maybe mean that there is a probability attached that is bound by the circumstances.
> Particularly with examples like "touching face more often", why would you even do that? You put on the mask and you leave it on, the constant touching, particularly with dirty hands, is really down to a lot of people being lazy/careless or trying to wear the mask as little as possible.
How is it better to wear masks for these "lazy/careless" people (which are apparently a lot)?
> It's exactly like that. You get either infected or you don't. It's binary, however you maybe mean that there is a probability attached that is bound by the circumstances.
Sorry, but that's just not how it works, by now there's plenty of evidence that initial viral load exposure plays a major role in the later disease progression, which is not something unique to SARS-CoV-2.
As such it's very much part of the whole spectrum of outcomes from "Asymptomatic to mild symptoms" to "Ending up on a respirator and dying".
These are basics, and I'm not gonna discuss them with some random stranger who, once again, tries to politicize rather common sense, and established, medical practices.
> How is it better to wear masks for these "lazy/careless" people (which are apparently a lot)?
Yes, the top of the bell curve is sadly a very crowded place.
This is only anecdotal, but as somebody working in healthcare, mostly with autoimmune compromised patients in ambulate care, there's most certainly been a very noticeable effect among those patients, and even myself.
I will usually get a cold at least once, sometimes twice a year, forcing to take sick days. Yet that last year I wasn't sick once.
We've had to administer way less antibiotics therapies, the hospital stations we work together with are super happy about how well their patients are doing now, particularly the children.
Kind of funny to think about: The way we've been living for a year has always been their way of living. But when we all do it, that apparently even gives a kind of "herd protection" to those who really depend on these measures not to get sick.