I Noticed People Using Masks To Protect Themselves From Viruses All Wrong, So I Created These Infocomics To Explain How To Use Them Properly
Recently, there has been a lot of discussion and controversy about mask usage. It is crucial for the right people to wear masks if we are to stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities. The good news is, if everyone does this, we can prevent the spread of other infectious diseases as well!
The coronavirus comic in my previous post is missing some other precautions from WHO, which some astute commenters have pointed out. I’m planning to create a new one that includes the latest recommendations from WHO and have started getting all my coronavirus and COVID-19-related comics vetted by doctors.
More info: comicsforgood.com | Instagram | Facebook | twitter.com
The fact that my simple comic covering the basic aspects of keeping safe from the coronavirus has gone viral has made me realize there is a large gap in risk communication to the public when an epidemic strikes.
That is why I’ve chosen to continue fighting misinformation by publishing more COVID-19 “health advisory” comics. It is essential that the public is aware of basic facts on COVID-19 and understands their government’s strategy to combat it within their countries. I hope these free comics will be able to cut through the misinformation and educate communities in countries with weak health systems, as well as countries in conflict or poor governance, because they are the least likely to have access to credible sources of information. Misinformation about diseases is dangerous to one’s self and society at large.
Thanks go to doctors Kenneth Tan Kian Wee and Ariel Quahe for their advice and help in understanding the topic better. Any errors are mine.
Thank you for the response to my first post! If you haven’t seen it yet, click here. If you would like to find all the comics, current and future in one place, go to my website. You can find translations in dozens of languages made by many volunteers, download the comics, and maybe even donate.
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Also keep in mind that some people who look healthy are wearing masks because they're imunocompromised. People with copd, cancer and chronic illness are at higher risk of catching something and will have a harder time fighting it off.
I have severe asthma, and terrible allergies. I tend to catch everything and it almost always ends up in my lungs. Yes, I get a flu shot every year, and a pneumonia shot every 5 years. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't actually pretty scared of this virus even though I don't live in an area with Covid-18 cases right now... I think about masks, but they are uncomfortable, frustrating, and people don't understand when they see me wearing one. Looks like I'll just keep washing my hands and staying at home as much as possible. At least warm weather is coming soon and the sun will feel warm on my face as I sit alone in my garden.
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Thats wrong!!! Remember you can still spread the virus during the incubation period. ie, the period when you catch the virus but no symptoms yet. Thats why people travelled from countries with outbreak should isolate for 14 days even they are feeling healthy! The incubation period for Wuhan virus can be up to 24 days! So if you only wear mask if you are sick, you could already be spreading the virus to thousands of people!!
sadly the case indeed, im sick and tired of people who keep saying "blah blah if you're sick" , the fact of the matter is that covid19's greatest advantage is that it spreads before you start showing symptoms.
Load More Replies...
If you're sick, stay at home instead of going out in public to spread your pestilence. It's simple - don't be an a*****e.
The problem is that you're contagious before it's obvious you're sick.
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Conversely, do not stigmatize people who are wearing a mask but are not sick. a) I have an N95 wrap around mask (earhooks and velcro etc) that I use when riding in the city. b) I bought this mask and spare filters about a year ago and still have filters. c) I am not "wasting masks" by wearing it. d) I am also successfully not touching my nose and mouth when wearing it. While 'surgical masks' which are basically mouth covers are not of any use to a healthy person, a properly worn N95 mask is still worthwhile and not something I plan to give away my only one of. Also, if you *are* sick, don't wear an N95 mask with open return valves, because it completely defeats the purpose of wearing a mask.
That last part is a very good point. Never thought about that.
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TO NOT SHARE A VIRUS: Wear the little blue mask that loops over your ears. TO NOT GET A VIRUS: Buy a respirator with N95 filter. B/c the respirator fits properly to your face, and the blue mask doesn't,.... BUT MOST OF ALL ..... WASH YOUR HANDS!
Agreed. Those surgical masks will not stop you from getting it. Also, people forget about the eyes. Your eyes are really vulnerable to viruses.
Load More Replies...
i think such infographics or comics are very misleading too. Designers are creating these really cute graphics base on your own judgement and designers are not medical expert, nor is the designer being engaged by a medical institution to disseminate such information. While I understand why healthy people shouldn't wear mask, we should also consider that different countries have different approach and rationale. Or even, others may wear mask for other medication reasons and reasons for such. So please do not stigmatise people who do. If someone wishes to wear mask, it's their choice and freedom to do so. So please stop sharing such infographics.
Sigh.... People are still thinking that any kind of mask will protect them from the coronavirus. This simply isn't true. Only by thoroughly washing your hands and limiting your contact with groups of people can you actually protect yourself. So stop stealing masks from hospitals and Dr's offices. You're not protecting yourself and you're only making it harder for the professionals to do their jobs.
While I do not disagree with the conclusions that those displaying symptoms should wear a mask to protect others and that improper removal of PPE can also increase risks of the wearer, there are scientific evidence showing that wearing a surgical mask does provide some level of protection against respiratory infections. Case in point, Uchida et al (2016) suggested that "wearing of masks were effective in infection control." https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335516301553?via%3Dihub Systematic review conducted by Barasheed et al (2016) suggests that "Facemask use seems to be beneficial against certain respiratory infections at MGs (mass gatherings)". https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(16)31010-4/fulltext
Load More Replies... If you're "healthy" wear a damn mask if you want to wear a mask. That is all.
Wearing a mask when you don't need to/don't know how to is counterproductive. To be effective the mask needs to be sealed. An untrained mask user is likely to need to be adjusting the mask which will involve touching the face which helps infections spread. Masks can create a false sense of security. Let's not create a mask shortage when there are people who need them.
Load More Replies...
Person in the supermarket this morning carrying a sodden handkerchief and sneezing without covering up as she moved along the produce aisles. What's wrong with some people?!!?
well meaning but misinformed. people who think themselves healthy are often the reason covid19 is spreading. it becomes infectious before you show symptoms. how people can't seem to register it inside their brains is beyond me.
You need to know the difference between masks. A sick person wearing a common , non p2 or p3 mask protects those around. Such a mask dont protect a healthy person from virus. A fitted p2 or p3 mask, on the other hand, protect you from viruses. Those used in constructions is reusable and the filters lasts for weeks in a non dusty enviroment. Also good if you renovate 🙂
My husband is very high-risk so I've had to be extra careful and I've learned that a mask makes people avoid you at all costs. You want people to stay away from you? Wear a mask.
I wear face mask not to avoid catching the virus but to at least lessen the inhalation of air pollution in the city.
Wouldn't it be even more effective of everyone - healthy and the sick all wear masks? So please stop saying healthy people to stop wearing masks. Irresponsible article.
This is a very good visual as to why most people don't need a mask. If you're healthy, stop buying them and hoarding! We need to be conscious of health care workers that need them in order to do their jobs! I find myself getting really annoyed with all these ads for face masks...
:-) Dear peaple! Use only respirator https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKUawewnVD8
The thing is, Coronavirus has an incubation period of 14 days. For 14 days people might not realize they are sick but spread their viruses around. So to be safe, everyone should wear a mask.
I specifically searched for that info graphic today (October, time of the second wave) because I remembered I was bullied in FEBRUARY on a BUS because I was wearing a mask on my face and some people where telling me I should not because it's pointless. Thanks experts! Tell me all about it now... Tho I do remember a lot of ministers of health care in the world where telling not to wear masks because it's pointless... How about being honest and just say "hey, yeah we should all were masks but we don't have that many? maybe sew them or smth idk" instead of spreading a "official bs" that masks don't do poop...
I'm not wearing a mask to protect myself. I'm wearing a mask because I could be an asymptomatic carrier. I'm wearing a mask to protect other people. Although medical PPE is in short supply, there are an abundance of cloth masks, and one can also just use a bandana or scarf around their face. Just in case.
Absolute IGNORANCE!!! Not everyone that has COVID-19 knows they have it. You can still be infected without showing any symptoms. EVERYONE needs to wear a damn face mask in public - no exceptions. Just because you are young, show no symptoms, don't have underlying medical conditions, does NOT make you invinsible. This type of IGNORANCE is what spreads the virus in the first place.
While I do not disagree with the conclusions that those displaying symptoms should wear a mask and that improper removal of PPE can also increase risks of the wearer, there are scientific evidence showing that wearing a surgical mask does provide some level of protection. Case in point, Uchida et al (2016) suggested that "wearing of masks were effective in infection control." https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335516301553?via%3Dihub Systematic review conducted by Barasheed et al (2016) suggests that "Facemask use seems to be beneficial against certain respiratory infections at MGs (mass gatherings)". https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(16)31010-4/fulltext
While it might not be able to provide the same level as a P2 / N95 respirator, surgical masks themselves appeared to be providing at least some level of protection to their wearers. In fact, research conducted by Radonovich et al. (2019) indicates that "Among outpatient health care personnel, N95 respirators vs medical masks as worn by participants in this trial resulted in no significant difference in the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31479137 I do not believe that encouraging people who are displaying symptoms to wear masks and enabling asymptomatic population to wear masks in public / mass gatherings should be mutually exclusive.
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Problem is, there are sick people who do NOT wear masks in public. I’ve seen them sneezing on the streets without covering their mouths. One time on the train, a man in his 40s was coughing non-stop to the point where saliva started dripping disgustingly out of his mouth and onto the MRT seat. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hands and didn’t bother cleaning the seat while I scurried away as far as possible from such animals. While wearing a mask when you’re healthy might not be the most effective way to go, you can’t place your health and life on somebody else’s hands. We’re not living in Utopia.
"WHO recommends against wearing masks in community settings because of lack of evidence.2 However, absence of evidence of effectiveness should not be equated to evidence of ineffectiveness, especially when facing a novel situation with limited alternative options." https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30520-1/fulltext?utm_campaign=tlcoronavirus20&utm_content=119644710&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&hss_channel=tw-27013292&fbclid=IwAR2a2JLdtKpgEdllPG87psSRUpwFSGzqc7TIcf0caHTqR2Qi6KoDFzQnPik#%20
there's quite a lot of idiotic people who even gives their pets mask too.....
not a running nose...your nose is not running anywhere BUT a RUNNY NOSE - take notice!
Everyone should wear a mask. Because what if the sick person don't realize they are sick or just bad hygiene, then the healthy people can protect themselves by wearing masks.
Read the "infocomic" again, Please! Reread the part especially on how the virus is spead. And if you have to cough or sneeze, do so into the bend of your elbow to contain droplets as much as possible. Viruses live a looong time on not just you, your skin, your clothes but on every inanimate object in its vicinity that droplets land on. So not touching and proper hand washing is more important than masks. Proper hand washing is wet hands thoroughly, apply plenty of soap to get a good lather. Scrub hands including between fingers for 20 seconds minimum (sing happy birthday twice). After rinsing use paper towels to dry. Turn off public sinks with paper towel so as not to recontaminate cleaned hands. Open door handle with paper or pull sleeve down over hand.
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THIS IS TOTAL B******T! Because you don’t know if you're sick at all. COVID-19 is not SARS. COVID-19 Infected patient will be infectious as early as **2-DAYS BEFORE** starting to have any symptom, and not all patients have flu-like symptom. There **ARE** records that someone just feel headache or have a diarrhea, and in some rare case the only symptom is conjunctivitis. Yes you read it right: this virus will infect human through eyes. This is madness that you people always think only people who feel acute illness need to wear mask. Wearing mask is not protecting yourself but protecting other people. It also prevents your hand touching your nose and mouth. So for the love of god, just wear your mask if you’re going to crowded places, namely public transit. And wash hands. Yes you will consume a lot of masks this way in your daily life and this is why we had already started mask rationing as early as January here in Taiwan. And that’s why we can keep control of the infection, despite that we’re just 250 miles away from the source of epidemic center. You people are just too careless about the disease.
How to know if you are sick or not as symptom appear after you infect others? Better safe than sorry and if we ALL wear a mask; we all reduce drastically the contamination risk. This is what Japan, Hong Kong and China are doing right now. Are they all stupid? The reality is a bit different. As there is NOT enough masks in the Western world, they have to be saved for the one in need as priority. But it's not useless to wear a mask (If so, why the doctor are wearing them?)
Doctors are wearing masks for two distinct reasons, on the one hand it is for their own protection since they work with patients who are or may be infected with any kind of contagious disease but on the other hand, it is to make sure they do not pass on any viruses or bacteria that may infect already sick, highly vulnerable, and/or immunosuppressed patients. That is quite different from donning a mask in order to go to buy some groceries. The number one priority is to wash your hands and to keep them away from your face.
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Even when the outbreak of the virus came as far as I know the only ones that should be wearing face masks are those who had pulmonary problems, sick people to avoid spreading the virus. Healthy people are just wasting tons of mask per day to protect their selves from the virus instead of obliging sick people to wear those. I know people just panics and misinformed. The problem now is people wouldn't know they're infected so they unintentionally spreads the virus until it's too late for them to know they're infected. :-( Hope this ends soon.
We aren't wasting masks. Lots of people get reusable masks that can be washed after use (and are more comfortable and look cute). You can't say "bUt WhAt If ThEy LiVe AlOnE?" because online shopping. People not knowing if their infected or not is why everyone should wear a mask.
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Unfortunately, there are no masks that fit animals with beaks (such as myself) unless, of course, you count those things I'd rather not talk about. Even THOSE had barely any beak room, because of all the aromatic items.
Grow up and stop making jokes about something that is killing people
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sorry but not true.... the virus can last for days on surfaces , if you touch a surface that has the virus, like the post office door handle, you are at risk, masks help you from touching your mouth and nose and infecting yourself before you can wash the virus off your hands..... this virus attacks only your lungs and needs your mouth and nose as entry.... masks are for preventing you from touching your mouth and nose, period....not filtering the virus.
The virus can attack and infect through your eyes as well, not just nose and mouth.
Load More Replies...
Also keep in mind that some people who look healthy are wearing masks because they're imunocompromised. People with copd, cancer and chronic illness are at higher risk of catching something and will have a harder time fighting it off.
I have severe asthma, and terrible allergies. I tend to catch everything and it almost always ends up in my lungs. Yes, I get a flu shot every year, and a pneumonia shot every 5 years. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't actually pretty scared of this virus even though I don't live in an area with Covid-18 cases right now... I think about masks, but they are uncomfortable, frustrating, and people don't understand when they see me wearing one. Looks like I'll just keep washing my hands and staying at home as much as possible. At least warm weather is coming soon and the sun will feel warm on my face as I sit alone in my garden.
Load More Replies... Thats wrong!!! Remember you can still spread the virus during the incubation period. ie, the period when you catch the virus but no symptoms yet. Thats why people travelled from countries with outbreak should isolate for 14 days even they are feeling healthy! The incubation period for Wuhan virus can be up to 24 days! So if you only wear mask if you are sick, you could already be spreading the virus to thousands of people!!
sadly the case indeed, im sick and tired of people who keep saying "blah blah if you're sick" , the fact of the matter is that covid19's greatest advantage is that it spreads before you start showing symptoms.
Load More Replies... If you're sick, stay at home instead of going out in public to spread your pestilence. It's simple - don't be an a*****e.
The problem is that you're contagious before it's obvious you're sick.
Load More Replies... Conversely, do not stigmatize people who are wearing a mask but are not sick. a) I have an N95 wrap around mask (earhooks and velcro etc) that I use when riding in the city. b) I bought this mask and spare filters about a year ago and still have filters. c) I am not "wasting masks" by wearing it. d) I am also successfully not touching my nose and mouth when wearing it. While 'surgical masks' which are basically mouth covers are not of any use to a healthy person, a properly worn N95 mask is still worthwhile and not something I plan to give away my only one of. Also, if you *are* sick, don't wear an N95 mask with open return valves, because it completely defeats the purpose of wearing a mask.
That last part is a very good point. Never thought about that.
Load More Replies... TO NOT SHARE A VIRUS: Wear the little blue mask that loops over your ears. TO NOT GET A VIRUS: Buy a respirator with N95 filter. B/c the respirator fits properly to your face, and the blue mask doesn't,.... BUT MOST OF ALL ..... WASH YOUR HANDS!
Agreed. Those surgical masks will not stop you from getting it. Also, people forget about the eyes. Your eyes are really vulnerable to viruses.
Load More Replies... i think such infographics or comics are very misleading too. Designers are creating these really cute graphics base on your own judgement and designers are not medical expert, nor is the designer being engaged by a medical institution to disseminate such information. While I understand why healthy people shouldn't wear mask, we should also consider that different countries have different approach and rationale. Or even, others may wear mask for other medication reasons and reasons for such. So please do not stigmatise people who do. If someone wishes to wear mask, it's their choice and freedom to do so. So please stop sharing such infographics.
Sigh.... People are still thinking that any kind of mask will protect them from the coronavirus. This simply isn't true. Only by thoroughly washing your hands and limiting your contact with groups of people can you actually protect yourself. So stop stealing masks from hospitals and Dr's offices. You're not protecting yourself and you're only making it harder for the professionals to do their jobs.
While I do not disagree with the conclusions that those displaying symptoms should wear a mask to protect others and that improper removal of PPE can also increase risks of the wearer, there are scientific evidence showing that wearing a surgical mask does provide some level of protection against respiratory infections. Case in point, Uchida et al (2016) suggested that "wearing of masks were effective in infection control." https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335516301553?via%3Dihub Systematic review conducted by Barasheed et al (2016) suggests that "Facemask use seems to be beneficial against certain respiratory infections at MGs (mass gatherings)". https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(16)31010-4/fulltext
Load More Replies... If you're "healthy" wear a damn mask if you want to wear a mask. That is all.
Wearing a mask when you don't need to/don't know how to is counterproductive. To be effective the mask needs to be sealed. An untrained mask user is likely to need to be adjusting the mask which will involve touching the face which helps infections spread. Masks can create a false sense of security. Let's not create a mask shortage when there are people who need them.
Load More Replies... Person in the supermarket this morning carrying a sodden handkerchief and sneezing without covering up as she moved along the produce aisles. What's wrong with some people?!!?
well meaning but misinformed. people who think themselves healthy are often the reason covid19 is spreading. it becomes infectious before you show symptoms. how people can't seem to register it inside their brains is beyond me.
You need to know the difference between masks. A sick person wearing a common , non p2 or p3 mask protects those around. Such a mask dont protect a healthy person from virus. A fitted p2 or p3 mask, on the other hand, protect you from viruses. Those used in constructions is reusable and the filters lasts for weeks in a non dusty enviroment. Also good if you renovate 🙂
My husband is very high-risk so I've had to be extra careful and I've learned that a mask makes people avoid you at all costs. You want people to stay away from you? Wear a mask.
I wear face mask not to avoid catching the virus but to at least lessen the inhalation of air pollution in the city.
Wouldn't it be even more effective of everyone - healthy and the sick all wear masks? So please stop saying healthy people to stop wearing masks. Irresponsible article.
This is a very good visual as to why most people don't need a mask. If you're healthy, stop buying them and hoarding! We need to be conscious of health care workers that need them in order to do their jobs! I find myself getting really annoyed with all these ads for face masks...
:-) Dear peaple! Use only respirator https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKUawewnVD8
The thing is, Coronavirus has an incubation period of 14 days. For 14 days people might not realize they are sick but spread their viruses around. So to be safe, everyone should wear a mask.
I specifically searched for that info graphic today (October, time of the second wave) because I remembered I was bullied in FEBRUARY on a BUS because I was wearing a mask on my face and some people where telling me I should not because it's pointless. Thanks experts! Tell me all about it now... Tho I do remember a lot of ministers of health care in the world where telling not to wear masks because it's pointless... How about being honest and just say "hey, yeah we should all were masks but we don't have that many? maybe sew them or smth idk" instead of spreading a "official bs" that masks don't do poop...
I'm not wearing a mask to protect myself. I'm wearing a mask because I could be an asymptomatic carrier. I'm wearing a mask to protect other people. Although medical PPE is in short supply, there are an abundance of cloth masks, and one can also just use a bandana or scarf around their face. Just in case.
Absolute IGNORANCE!!! Not everyone that has COVID-19 knows they have it. You can still be infected without showing any symptoms. EVERYONE needs to wear a damn face mask in public - no exceptions. Just because you are young, show no symptoms, don't have underlying medical conditions, does NOT make you invinsible. This type of IGNORANCE is what spreads the virus in the first place.
While I do not disagree with the conclusions that those displaying symptoms should wear a mask and that improper removal of PPE can also increase risks of the wearer, there are scientific evidence showing that wearing a surgical mask does provide some level of protection. Case in point, Uchida et al (2016) suggested that "wearing of masks were effective in infection control." https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335516301553?via%3Dihub Systematic review conducted by Barasheed et al (2016) suggests that "Facemask use seems to be beneficial against certain respiratory infections at MGs (mass gatherings)". https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(16)31010-4/fulltext
While it might not be able to provide the same level as a P2 / N95 respirator, surgical masks themselves appeared to be providing at least some level of protection to their wearers. In fact, research conducted by Radonovich et al. (2019) indicates that "Among outpatient health care personnel, N95 respirators vs medical masks as worn by participants in this trial resulted in no significant difference in the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31479137 I do not believe that encouraging people who are displaying symptoms to wear masks and enabling asymptomatic population to wear masks in public / mass gatherings should be mutually exclusive.
Load More Replies... Problem is, there are sick people who do NOT wear masks in public. I’ve seen them sneezing on the streets without covering their mouths. One time on the train, a man in his 40s was coughing non-stop to the point where saliva started dripping disgustingly out of his mouth and onto the MRT seat. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hands and didn’t bother cleaning the seat while I scurried away as far as possible from such animals. While wearing a mask when you’re healthy might not be the most effective way to go, you can’t place your health and life on somebody else’s hands. We’re not living in Utopia.
"WHO recommends against wearing masks in community settings because of lack of evidence.2 However, absence of evidence of effectiveness should not be equated to evidence of ineffectiveness, especially when facing a novel situation with limited alternative options." https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30520-1/fulltext?utm_campaign=tlcoronavirus20&utm_content=119644710&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&hss_channel=tw-27013292&fbclid=IwAR2a2JLdtKpgEdllPG87psSRUpwFSGzqc7TIcf0caHTqR2Qi6KoDFzQnPik#%20
there's quite a lot of idiotic people who even gives their pets mask too.....
not a running nose...your nose is not running anywhere BUT a RUNNY NOSE - take notice!
Everyone should wear a mask. Because what if the sick person don't realize they are sick or just bad hygiene, then the healthy people can protect themselves by wearing masks.
Read the "infocomic" again, Please! Reread the part especially on how the virus is spead. And if you have to cough or sneeze, do so into the bend of your elbow to contain droplets as much as possible. Viruses live a looong time on not just you, your skin, your clothes but on every inanimate object in its vicinity that droplets land on. So not touching and proper hand washing is more important than masks. Proper hand washing is wet hands thoroughly, apply plenty of soap to get a good lather. Scrub hands including between fingers for 20 seconds minimum (sing happy birthday twice). After rinsing use paper towels to dry. Turn off public sinks with paper towel so as not to recontaminate cleaned hands. Open door handle with paper or pull sleeve down over hand.
Load More Replies... THIS IS TOTAL B******T! Because you don’t know if you're sick at all. COVID-19 is not SARS. COVID-19 Infected patient will be infectious as early as **2-DAYS BEFORE** starting to have any symptom, and not all patients have flu-like symptom. There **ARE** records that someone just feel headache or have a diarrhea, and in some rare case the only symptom is conjunctivitis. Yes you read it right: this virus will infect human through eyes. This is madness that you people always think only people who feel acute illness need to wear mask. Wearing mask is not protecting yourself but protecting other people. It also prevents your hand touching your nose and mouth. So for the love of god, just wear your mask if you’re going to crowded places, namely public transit. And wash hands. Yes you will consume a lot of masks this way in your daily life and this is why we had already started mask rationing as early as January here in Taiwan. And that’s why we can keep control of the infection, despite that we’re just 250 miles away from the source of epidemic center. You people are just too careless about the disease.
How to know if you are sick or not as symptom appear after you infect others? Better safe than sorry and if we ALL wear a mask; we all reduce drastically the contamination risk. This is what Japan, Hong Kong and China are doing right now. Are they all stupid? The reality is a bit different. As there is NOT enough masks in the Western world, they have to be saved for the one in need as priority. But it's not useless to wear a mask (If so, why the doctor are wearing them?)
Doctors are wearing masks for two distinct reasons, on the one hand it is for their own protection since they work with patients who are or may be infected with any kind of contagious disease but on the other hand, it is to make sure they do not pass on any viruses or bacteria that may infect already sick, highly vulnerable, and/or immunosuppressed patients. That is quite different from donning a mask in order to go to buy some groceries. The number one priority is to wash your hands and to keep them away from your face.
Load More Replies... Even when the outbreak of the virus came as far as I know the only ones that should be wearing face masks are those who had pulmonary problems, sick people to avoid spreading the virus. Healthy people are just wasting tons of mask per day to protect their selves from the virus instead of obliging sick people to wear those. I know people just panics and misinformed. The problem now is people wouldn't know they're infected so they unintentionally spreads the virus until it's too late for them to know they're infected. :-( Hope this ends soon.
We aren't wasting masks. Lots of people get reusable masks that can be washed after use (and are more comfortable and look cute). You can't say "bUt WhAt If ThEy LiVe AlOnE?" because online shopping. People not knowing if their infected or not is why everyone should wear a mask.
Load More Replies... Unfortunately, there are no masks that fit animals with beaks (such as myself) unless, of course, you count those things I'd rather not talk about. Even THOSE had barely any beak room, because of all the aromatic items.
Grow up and stop making jokes about something that is killing people
Load More Replies... sorry but not true.... the virus can last for days on surfaces , if you touch a surface that has the virus, like the post office door handle, you are at risk, masks help you from touching your mouth and nose and infecting yourself before you can wash the virus off your hands..... this virus attacks only your lungs and needs your mouth and nose as entry.... masks are for preventing you from touching your mouth and nose, period....not filtering the virus.
The virus can attack and infect through your eyes as well, not just nose and mouth.
Load More Replies... 
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