
Ask HN: Why isn't everyone wearing face masks? - djaychela
I&#x27;m in the UK, and am dismayed by the lack of seriousness that people here appear to be taking covid 19. Everyone seems to be out and about, mixing pretty normally - there was even a marching band playing in my town centre today (Bournemouth).<p>I know there&#x27;s not strong evidence that cloth masks stop infection, but given their low cost and ease of cleaning (2 minutes in boiling water), why hasn&#x27;t everyone been issued with one (or given plans to make one) and been told to wear them? Bad optics?
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tannerbrockwell
Optics at this point. Most regions in the US are transitioning to mandatory
quarantine with only exceptions for food, pharmaceuticals or essential
business. With both NY and CA on de facto lockdown, we will see this impact
the National GDP in the coming months.

The federal government is now lifting liability restrictions on construction
masks. You should see more of these in Health Care situations as they are much
more widely available. [1]

"N100 and P100 Masks for Protection against Avian Flu, Swine Flu and Other
Diseases The Centers for Disease Control tested N100 and P100 masks for their
efficacy against avian flu, swine flu and other contagious diseases and found
them to provide superior protection. Since N100 respirators and P100
respirators are capable of blocking the majority of airborne hazards, people
often use them to prevent the spread of dangerous diseases." [2]

[1]: [https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/17/white-house-asks-
construct...](https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/17/white-house-asks-construction-
companies-to-donate-their-n95-masks-to-hospitals/) [2]:
[https://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/respirators-safety-
prot...](https://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/respirators-safety-
protection/particulate-respirators/n100-and-p100-respirators.html)

------
chippy
It's not optics, it logistics, science and psychology.

Costs? Just imagine how you would do it if you were in the government.

A mask on its own may be cheap but for a whole nation? They have to be
manufactured, where from? They would have to be distributed, how? You'd need
to send everyone at least 2 of them. That's over a hundred million of the
things.

Okay, so lets imagine you were able to find a manufacturer of a hundred
million cotton masks and were able to buy them, and were able to send them to
every household in the country. What should you imagine next? Why should
anyone wear them if they are not being serious now? What should you do as a
government to get people to wear them? Shouldn't be against the law not to
wear one? Who would enforce that? How much publicity would you spend, who
would write the advice and how would you do broadcast it? Do the scientists
agree with this? Wouldn't social distancing work just as well? Could people
feel more safe wearing them and break social distancing? There are more
questions you could put here with some imagination....

I feel we are panicking and reaching out for any stricter solution. I'm seeing
many left wing people on social media in the UK call for stricter approaches,
but that is partly to oppose the government whatever the cost and partly fear.
How about the army on the streets enforcing curfew? That would be effective
and probably quicker than cotton masks. How about mass surveillance? That's
just digital and doesn't need anything manufactured, nor paying the army. We
can easily and happily give up our rights and liberties when we are scared -
after all we are saving lives and so many people are lacking seriousness.

~~~
ajeet_dhaliwal
I share your view. I’m surprised at the level of liberty already being asked
to be given up with respect to forcing businesses to close especially, kind of
shocking to see people wanting even more measures and how quickly all this can
happen.

------
yellowapple
> I know there's not strong evidence that cloth masks stop infection

I feel like that answers your question. They're more useful if you think
you're already infected and want to avoid spreading it by
breathing/coughing/sneezing on people. You're right in the sense that it's
probably reasonable to assume you're already infected (regardless of whether
or not you're showing symptoms), but humans are notoriously irrational about
these sorts of things, caring more about "I hope I don't get sick" than "I
hope I don't get random people sick".

Combine that with them having been one of the first things sold out in most
stores (alongside hand sanitizer and toilet paper) and it shouldn't be
especially surprising that people elect to go without.

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h4cks4FG
Here's what the Washington Post had to say:
[https://frugear.com/blogs/news/the-washington-post-on-
face-m...](https://frugear.com/blogs/news/the-washington-post-on-face-masks)
And a more in-depth look on the cultural differences:
[https://frugear.com/blogs/news/why-wearing-a-face-mask-is-
en...](https://frugear.com/blogs/news/why-wearing-a-face-mask-is-encouraged-
in-asia-but-shunned-in-the-u-s) I think it mostly had to do with facing a
crisis. In 5 years time, long after this crisis, it will still be a common
sight in public transit worldwide.

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WheelsAtLarge
I tend to agree with you. They may not stop you from getting the virus but
given that there's strong evidence that people can transmit the virus pre
symptoms then it would make sense to wear them so you don't transmit the virus
via your secretions.

Unfortunately, it's all a guess there are no studies on the effect of wearing
a mask.

There are so many questions that have no answer now. Such as: How long can we
wear them? What is the best material? Would people follow best practices or
would it make it worse if they don't? Can we make enough for everyone given
the emergency? What's the best design? How many do we need for each person?
and on and on...

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natmaka
I live in China (Shanghai). In public places everyone here is masked.

I was pretty sure that it is sufficient, then I noticed that at home and in
restaurants the habit of sharing plates while eating persists.

It seems to me that it enables people to 'share saliva'. Many, but not all,
rather skillfully use their chopsticks to only take whatever they want,
avoiding contact with anything else. However a chopstick is often in contact
with food remaining in the plate, especially whenever there is sauce or
liquid, or with the plate itself.

How comes this practice doesn't seem to enforce virus propagation?

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atrilumen
[https://youtu.be/Fqw-9yMV0sI?t=848](https://youtu.be/Fqw-9yMV0sI?t=848)

In this clip the speaker argues that masks should be saved for health workers
and those with symptoms.

~~~
djaychela
Thanks for that - I watched the whole thing, and found it useful. I wasn't
talking about depriving health workers of 'proper' masks, more that I've heard
argument that simple cotton masks could work to stop the spread of the disease
- particularly as people may not know they are contagious before developing
symptoms, and it would be a fairly low-cost step to take.

I get that it takes discipline to ensure that a proper mask works well as part
of a number of pieces of PPE to stop the wearer getting infected, but I was
thinking as much of it protecting others as the wearer.

------
billconan
[https://time.com/5799964/coronavirus-face-mask-asia-
us/](https://time.com/5799964/coronavirus-face-mask-asia-us/)

