LogFAQs > #941233358

Gladius_ posted...

It doesn't stop the spread entirely (non N95.) they stopped recommending N95 because the layman doesn't know how to properly use them. So they are next to worthless for the average consumer. They're just buying up stock over people who can and do need them (nurses) and this is why they recommend people to use normal masks at this point. They are still preventing the spread of people selling N95 because they are far more effective than the average mask you find in the store.

Regular masks reduce spread by, as you mentioned, stopping the droplets but that only matters if you have the infection (and many do without realizing it. So it protects people from yourself in case you might be a carrier) but even then that isn't fool proof. Especially when the average person adjusts their mask, tends to touch their face, and the fact that it can still infect through the eyes and via other bodily fluids. If you're looking to protect yourself, you want an N-95 and learn how it's used. Oh and.. wash your hands.

Not 100% effective is not the same as not effective. Even if it reduces the chance by only half, it does a ton to slow the spread.

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You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.
-Misattributed to CS Lewis