[whatshisface]

>Reading training materials does not mean that you are trained. Who is going to slap your hand away from your face when you reach inside your mask to scratch an itch? What if you wash your hands, take of your mask, and then touch the door handle you touched with your dirty hands?

These same caveats apply to medical workers, who occasionally get sick while treating cases. Risk reduction isn't risk elimination but that doesn't make it pointless.

>The point I'm making is that the real way to protect yourself is to wash your hands.

You could also come up with scenarios where someone who was insufficiently trained would fail to protect themselves with hand washing. Here are some:

- Insufficient washing time.

- Touching handle before and after.

- Only using water.

No measure is perfect, and I think we can all agree that a measure with a less-than-100% chance of working (whether hand-washing or mask wearing) is better than nothing.

[jbob2000]

It's not "better than nothing" if purchasing and wearing these masks is affecting people who actually need them. No official organization is advocating for their use. It is pure fear-mongering to purchase and wear them as a healthy person. Here's what the CDC says:

> CDC does not recommend that people who are well wear a facemask to protect themselves from respiratory diseases, including COVID-19.

> Facemasks should be used by people who show symptoms of COVID-19 to help prevent the spread of the disease to others. The use of facemasks is also crucial for health workers and people who are taking care of someone in close settings (at home or in a health care facility).

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/prevention-t...

[kps]

CDC uses terminology that distinguishes a facemask from a respirator, as you will see from following the first link (‘health workers’) on the page you linked.

> … patients should wear a facemask to contain secretions.

> Use respiratory protection (i.e., a respirator) that is at least as protective as a fit-tested NIOSH-certified disposable N95 filtering facepiece respirator before entry into the patient room or care area.