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So I'm 100% in agreement with everything you said, but it still sounds like it's a decent idea for people in really crowded areas to wear masks to:

1. Not infect others during the period while they feel fine but are actually spreading the virus

2. As a more effective means of preventing spread via coughing and sneezing.

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I agree with you, but if people in China are spending hours in line trying to get a mask, they're almost certainly not altruistically trying to improve the public health situation -- they've been misinformed about what the mask is going to do for them.

Let's be realistic here -- when the public is in a panic, their behavior gets worse, not better.

So they are doing the right thing for wrong, selfish reasons because they are misinformed.

Isn't there also a shortage of masks because everyone's snapping them up and hoarding them? If people who're actually ill can't get a hold of any because of that then I'd argue they aren't even doing the right thing period.

The insidious thing about this virus is that people can be contagious for weeks before they notice symptoms.

Citation needed. The incubation period appears to be 2-7 days, with 14 day quarantines used mostly to give margin for error.

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