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Comment by dxdm | Hacker News Reader

Dear internet stranger, do you have any credible citations to back up your claims about the effectiveness of masks?

https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/m20-6817 - Only community RCT of masking for SARS-2 ever performed. Failed to reach significance, bounds are from (in plain english) “slight-moderate worsening” to “moderate+ improvement” in transmission. Endpoint was self infection not source control. No RCT of source control for SARS-2 exists, and yet everyone in this thread besides me is advocating for usage of this unproven intervention, how curious.

https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/4/e006577?fbclid=IwAR1eSyc... - cluster-randomized controlled trial of masking in hcw. Compared cloth masking to “standard practice”, not a no-mask control, but results caution against usage of cloth masks due to abysmal filtration efficiency and the increased infections in the group relative to standard practice

I’d have to cite like 10 different studies to show the full story on aerosol transmission and I’m on mobile so I’ll leave that as an exercise to the reader for now. But I’d like someone to at least answer this:

If you take it as fact that SARS-2 primarily spreads through aerosols, what does that imply about the efficacy of masking for source control of SARS-2? There is a reason that the health authorities advocating community usage of masks (which they never did for any respiratory pathogen pre-COVID btw) maintain that SARS-2 spreads through large respiratory droplets. It’s because otherwise the whole concept of community masking is absurd.

> If you take it as fact that SARS-2 primarily spreads through aerosols

Is that actually a fact though?

I think a review of the relevant literature shows that it quite obviously is, but I’m about to go to sleep and don’t want to fight that battle thus why I’m trying to direct your attention to the actual point.

So let’s try again:

If you take it as a given that SARS-2 primarily spreads via aerosols, what does that imply about the efficacy of strapping a warm, damp piece of cloth over your breathing holes?

That masking wearing is virtue signaling, showing that you care. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, but you might as well wear a t-shirt with a message.

> There is a reason that the health authorities advocating community usage of masks...maintain that SARS-2 spreads through large respiratory droplets. It’s because otherwise the whole concept of community masking is absurd.

But why would they keep saying it? Maybe they are effective. Maybe it's the politician's syllogism. Maybe they're worried that back-peddling would hurt their credibility. Maybe they create enough of a sense of both safety and fear to keep society functioning.

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