Coronavirus outbreak

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Mike_P

Guru
Location
Harrogate
Problem with face masks is that unless the user fully understands how fit one correctly, probably they should undergo a fit to face test with someone appropriately certified, they merely lead to a false sense of security and what many seem not to understand they reduce the chance of the wearer not passing a virus on and have no prevention to the wearer
 

tom73

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
Boris seems to manage, without the mathematical models
I hear bus model making is more his thing.
 

Inertia

I feel like I could... TAKE ON THE WORLD!!
Problem with face masks is that unless the user fully understands how fit one correctly, probably they should undergo a fit to face test with someone appropriately certified, they merely lead to a false sense of security and what many seem not to understand they reduce the chance of the wearer not passing a virus on and have no prevention to the wearer
I assume you mean the ones you would use in hospital?

The face masks worn in public wouldnt need that kind of fitting.
 

tom73

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
Problem with face masks is that unless the user fully understands how fit one correctly, probably they should undergo a fit to face test with someone appropriately certified, they merely lead to a false sense of security and what many seem not to understand they reduce the chance of the wearer not passing a virus on and have no prevention to the wearer
Clinical ones in clinical environments yes. But all jo blogs needs out shopping or at work is a fabric covering of some sort.
So no fit test is needed and even a fit test is no guarantee you wear one correctly anyway.
 

Rocky

Hello decadence
Problem with face masks is that unless the user fully understands how fit one correctly, probably they should undergo a fit to face test with someone appropriately certified, they merely lead to a false sense of security and what many seem not to understand they reduce the chance of the wearer not passing a virus on and have no prevention to the wearer
That's simply not true.......there is no robust evidence to support that. See this review in the BMJ

If 75% of people wore masks 75% of the time and 75% effectively, then it would have a serious impact on the R0 of the virus. My mask protects you, your mask protects me. It is very different to a PPE mask for doctors (or other HCPs). All we need is a reduction in the transmission of the virus, not 100% protection.
 

tom73

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
oh goody testing capacity is now set to double boy we are so lucky. If only we had an app too .... oh
Soon we won't know what to do with all the capacity only yesterday Rabb explained that you will have less tests as less people are getting ill so less people passing on the virus. It only feels like yesterday we got told we had extra capacity as less NHS staff went for one then they 1st thought.
 

vickster

Legendary Member
oh goody testing capacity is now set to double boy we are so lucky. If only we had an app too .... oh
Soon we won't know what to do with all the capacity only yesterday Rabb explained that you will have less tests as less people are getting ill so less people passing on the virus. It only feels like yesterday we got told we had extra capacity as less NHS staff went for one then they 1st thought.
What would actually meet your expectations? Tests available, people have to actually go to get them if they have the symptoms, don’t think current tests pick up a non existent virus or one that has cleared?) Does desktop testing now exist that could safely be put in every GP surgery? What’s the point in testing everyone? Would you have to do it every day in case someone wasn't symptomatic but possibly incubating yesterday?

A whole infrastructure has had to be created (we can’t change the past, or become Roche’s (or others) biggest market overnight (Germany has been a Primary market for Roche for many years, after all Basel literally straddles the border)
 

Rocky

Hello decadence
It's the advise the HSE is giving or at least thats what my workplace is saying.
My wife has spent the last two months doing extensive searches of the literature and publishing on this (she's an Oxford academic). She's been providing advice to the WHO, NHSE, PHE, Labour Party and the Scottish government. She's now done more than 15 TV and radio interviews. There is no reliable evidence against face coverings for the public and plenty in its favour. For some reason a number of official bodies are slow in keeping up with the latest research.

The conclusion is that face coverings are not harmful, are not complicated to wear, can be freely available and offer a way out of lockdown. It seems to me that the HSE, if it's giving advice on reducing the Ro of Covid, needs to get up to date.
 

Rocky

Hello decadence
How things change! Only a month ago, whenever masks were mentioned, internet experts would instantly quote the studies showing how useless they are. (the same studies referenced in that BMJ review.)
I'm not an internet expert. However, my wife is a professor of general practice who has spent the last 6 weeks developing guidelines for Covid care, publishing papers and advising a range of governmental and professional bodies. So she is an expert. I am aware of her work and I know what it says. If you disagree with her claims (and I've referenced them earlier), I'd be happy to look at your evidence and debate its validity with you.
 
@Brompton Bruce
I don't know your wife, and I don't know what you've said in the past about masks! That BMJ article seems reasonable to me. I was trying to make the point that a LOT of people have been rubbishing mask-wearing almost through-out the pandemic, usually referencing the older studies.

I find the very recent shift in public opinion interesting, it really feels like a tipping point, not the gradual shift over years that humanity usually exhibits. Hopefully it is a move in the right direction :smile:
 
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