[CydeWeys]

That's for a different situation, though. The smoke particulates are very small and are omnipresent, so a mask definitely helps. Coronavirus, by contrast, is only airborne for a short while, so unless you're close to someone who's infected you're not going to be breathing it in anyway. That's why they're saying the masks have limited effectiveness outside.

[jbay808]

Oh, when the GP said it's unrealistic to bike in a mask, I thought they meant it would be too difficult. Maybe they just meant unnecessary, in which case I agree.

[CydeWeys]

Yeah, I'm thinking that's what they must mean. An N95 mask doesn't cut down your breathing that much, and you can simply down-moderate your effort a little bit so that you never hit a pant. It's no gas mask.

[magicroot75]

When you say it's only airborne for a short while, what exact time range are you speaking about?

[wideasleep1]

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.09.20033217v...

edit: Sorry, didn't realize that link was subsequently truncated, here is the .pdf: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.09.20033217v...