[conspire] Face masks and SARS-CoV-2 (was: Party with iproute2 like it's 1999

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Ruben Safir (ruben at mrbrklyn.com):

> I've explored it complete.  It is crap.

What a loss, that so many of my fellow Americans either never learned
the art of rhetoric or have deliberately discarded what they know,
because the sad result is the repeated spectacle of emotionally labile
people pretending as if they can make an impression by beating other
people over the head with unsupported personal opinion.

As I always say in my election write-ups (such as, most recently,
http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/election-2020-03-03.html ):  'No, I'm not
lobbying to persuade, in part because that _doesn't work_
(https://youarenotsosmart.com/2011/06/10/the-backfire-effect/)'.


> I'm glad I got that out of the way and now we can focus on something
> valuable, like the shortage of face masks....

Useful only if you _have_ upper-respiratory symptoms and want to try to
avoid sharing them.
A useful compendium from a writer qualified in the field:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/03/dont-panic-the-comprehensive-ars-technica-guide-to-the-coronavirus/
Quoting from page 2:


---<begin quotation>---

Q:  When, if ever, should I buy or use a face mask?

A:  If you are not sick, do not buy a face mask.  If you have one already and
you are well, it is not recommended that you use it.

Face masks are now in short supply globally, and prices have surged.
This is making it difficult for healthcare workers to get the supplies
they need to keep themselves safe so they can stay healthy, keep
treating patients, and avoid spreading the infection.  This tragic
situation is exacerbating the outbreak.

In a March 3 plea
(https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/03-03-2020-shortage-of-personal-protective-equipment-endangering-health-workers-worldwide),
the WHO called on industry and governments to step up production of
masks and help thwart inappropriate buying.

“The World Health Organization has warned that severe and mounting
disruption to the global supply of personal protective equipment
(PPE) -- caused by rising demand, panic buying, hoarding and misuse --
is putting lives at risk from the new coronavirus and other infectious
diseases,” the agency said in a statement.

“We can’t stop COVID-19 without protecting health workers first,” WHO
Director-General Dr. Tedros said.

In addition to putting healthcare workers at risk, wearing a mask may
also put you at risk.  For one thing, face masks are not entirely
effective.  Masks still leave your eyes exposed -- if rubbed with germy
hands, they can be an entry point for viruses.  Surgical masks are
loose-fitting and leave open the possibility of infectious particles
working their way around the mouth.  Even the use of N95 respirators
(https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/pdfs/UnderstandDifferenceInfographic-508.pdf),
which are designed to protect against respiratory droplets, may not be
that helpful to you, since they require proper fitting, and many people
do not wear them correctly or consistently.

Some experts suggest that when members of the public wear face masks,
they tend to fuss with them and touch their faces more.  This increases
the risk of transferring pathogens from hands to entry points.  Also, if
you touch the outside surface of a contaminated face mask, you can then
contaminate your hand and go on to infect yourself.  This negates the
purpose of wearing a face mask.

Last, some health experts worry that wearing face masks may give people
a false sense of security, potentially making them lax about other
precautions and protections.

The only time experts recommend that members of the public wear a mask
is if they are caring for a sick person or are already sick and showing
signs of COVID-19.  In that case, wearing a mask could reduce the risk
that you will spread the infection to others.

Otherwise, masks should be reserved for healthcare workers.

---<end quotation>---

Obviously, I cannot in any way prevent you from holding a contrary view 
(if you do so), nor am I going to bang you over the head with advocacy
to the contrary (because that _doesn't work_), but...  If you disagree
with the experts being cited, you're flat-out wrong.  ;->

More seriously, the contrarian position on this subject is likely to
increase the already grave risk to medical staff, and the even worse
risk of the public health system getting overwhelmed, whereupon mass
suffocation deaths of untreatable hospital patients from Acute
Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), lying in hospital corridors for 
lack of facilities and shortage of staff, would likely ensue.  It's thus
literally a deadly serious matter.