In reply to: We agree more than disagree posted by OrangeJubilee
said most masks that people wear are ineffective. And that if people wear masks they should wear N95 masks - there are issues with too.
And, of course, he's specifically said his message isn't "Masks are useless" and "We shouldn't use masks". But that is, of course, what Clay Travis wants you to believe.
At the outset, I want to make several points crystal clear:
I support the wearing of cloth face coverings (masks) by the general public.
Stop citing CIDRAP and me as grounds to not wear masks, whether mandated or not.
Don't, however, use the wearing of cloth face coverings as an excuse to decrease other crucial, likely more effective, protective steps, like physical distancing
Also, don't use poorly conducted studies to support a contention that wearing cloth face coverings will drive the pandemic into the ground. But even if they reduce infection risk somewhat, wearing them can be important.
Partial text, full transcript available at the link:
I just want to add one last context on masking. I know that I'm not in the mainstream on this issue. Every time I hear this term masking, it's like for me nails on the chalkboard because we are not giving our citizens the information they need and deserve. We've already pointed out on multiple occasions the limits that face cloth coverings and surgical masks play in reducing the actual transmission of this virus. The studies that have been done have been largely flawed in this regard. In the meantime, the use of N95 respirators or KN95 approved respirators could have a dramatic impact and even the availability of N95 or KN95 and now we have even KN95 respirators available for children. I wish we would talk about not masking but talking about what needs to be done. So I am very, very strong supporter of respiratory protection. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an antimasker at all, just the opposite. But I'm saying use the materials that will actually protect you. As I pointed out before, we know that if you use a face cloth covering, you may get five to 10 minutes additional protection in a room where the virus is present than if you wore nothing at all. That's not a real margin of safety. N95 respirators may give you well under 25 to 30 hours of protection. So I want to get us off of just masking and that's this whole focus, the last 24 hours or 36 hours about masking. Have you seen anybody mentioning about, by the way, don't wear it under your nose that chin diaper? Again, we continue to see up to 25 percent of people wearing a mask under their nose. As I've said so many times, it's like fixing three of the five screen doors in your submarine. So I hope we get this message out. We can right now greatly reduce transmission, if people are using N95s. They are abundantly available your hardware stores, online ordering sites, etc. They are available. So I hope we promote good respiratory protection, not just the concept of masking, and that could have a real important difference right now.
I think that is a slight difference. Surgoen masks were always supposed to improve your odds of preventing the virus, not a panacea against it. Obviously n95s are much better. I just bought some new ones myself last week.
It wasnt clear to me if he said wearing a surgeons mask are ineffective against someone with covid if both are wearing the surgeon mask.
movement in or out."
Let me add he didn't say there were issues with n95 masks and that is my input. But N95 are more expensive, need to be well fitted to work and need to be either cleaned or replaced regularly.
if he was talking about just an individual or if they dont matter if everyone is wearing that type of mask.
Either way, I think its been known for a while that the surgeon mask was not nearly as effective as an n95. Yes, they are more expensive, its one of the reasons people like myself think Trump failed us originally by not making a full on effort to make more of these types of masks. More supply would presumably make the costs low. Biden may have to start doing the same thing, but the delta variant outbreak is no where near where we were pre vaccine obviously. But it would be nice if N95s were offered for free to those who cant afford them.
Or is there a difference?
I have a couple boxes of KN95's.
An N95 has to be fit tested so their is no leak. Males cannot have much facial hair as even stubble can interfere and cause a leak.
A KN95 is made of the same material but it is not fit tested so there isn’t a tight seal.
chinese approved. They are supposedly similar but i would assume N95s are a bit better. But the CDC said KN95s are a suitable substitute.
I would guess the hierachy of masks goes
cloth covering
surgeon mask
KN95
N95
SonoMask
Israeli grade Gas mask
Mostly kidding.