[atomi]

They're obviously not useless. They do keep spittle down. But every person in public would have to wear them in the off chance they're asymptomatic carriers.

And a virus will still penetrate most masks through the sides where air is mainly being pulled in from. So there is more nuance than just "masks are useless"

I guess you can wear them. But given the choice I'd rather have immunity. And I think we should focus more on that.

[mantap]

Masks decrease R0. You don't need everybody to wear them. You just need enough people to wear them for R0 to fall below 1, combined with all the other measures. It's academic because there aren't enough masks but it's a lesson to learn for a future epidemic. Also it's high time that mask wearing becomes culturally normalised in the West as it is in east Asia.

[atomi]

> You just need enough people to wear them for R0 to fall below 1

This is the point I wanted to make but I went with "everyone" instead of "enough"

For what it's worth, I think you'll find here in the US at least a very pigheaded attitude towards wearing masks. And that includes myself. I just don't want to live in a world where everyone has to wear masks. It's soul crushing.

[robbiep]

Droplet infection is only really a problem within a couple of metres - SARS-CoV-2 does not seem to be aerosol spread.

[jansan]

I seems Coronavirus can stay active airborne for several hours.

[MAGZine]

Not sure why you're being downvoted. Emerging research suggests that aerosolized SARS-Cov2 can stay active for hours.

Droplets (e.g. projectile saliva or mucus) fall out of the air quickly, but this is different.

Here's a source: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2004973, and an upvote.