[mikst]

Sorry, you must be new to the Internet. Everything besides World Health Organisation website (in this particular case) is an opinion here. 99.9999% of the information on the Internet is not to be treated in any other way from the start. Not only you are not supposed to trust HN, as they just folks like you, it is very rude to demand them to work for you and verify facts instead of you.

[Jugurtha]

>Sorry, you must be new to the Internet. Everything besides World Health Organisation website (in this particular case) is an opinion here.

It is ironic you mention the World Health Organization as a source of truth given this tweet:

>If you do not have any respiratory symptoms, such as fever, cough, or runny nose, you do not need to wear a medical mask. When used alone, masks can give you a false feeling of protection and can even be a source of infection when not used correctly.[0] - WHO Twitter Account

I put a spin on it:

>If you are not drunk, you do not need to wear your seat belt. When used alone, seat belts can give you a false feeling of protection, and can even be a source of accidents when not used correctly.

[0]: https://twitter.com/WHOWPRO/status/1243171683067777024

[badpun]

Yep, looks like the WHO chose to manipulate the public into not using the masks so that enough is available for health-care professionals. It had a positive short-term impact, but also damaged their reputation and trustworthiness, which is very bad.

[chatmasta]

Wait, really? As in, the WHO followed an intentional strategy of misleading the public, akin to a real life trolley problem? I'd be interested in reading more about this if there are sources.

[mikst]

The most simple face mask (not a gas mask) does not protect you from environment, it protects other people from you. Hoarding prevention is also a very important task in the midst of a crisis. Hence WHO recommendation is justified. Moreso a mask can be a cause for reinfection with virus, since you are breathing back in what you exhale. Best wishes and good health.

[Jugurtha]

I fail to understand this.

>The most simple face mask (not a gas mask) does not protect you from environment, it protects other people from you.

>Moreso a mask can be a cause for reinfection with virus, since you are breathing back in what you exhale.

>Hoarding prevention is also a very important task in the midst of a crisis. Hence WHO recommendation is justified.

These three sentences can be boiled down to:

- WHO's recommendation is justified to prevent the hoarding of that item because:

If you're sick, wearing it will harm you and protect others. If you're not, it's useless to you.

Therefore, only sick people wanting to remain sick should wear them. That excludes physicians who may not be sick, and do not wish to remain sick if they already are.

Furthermore, is the protective property on the simple face masks anisotropic? How does it protect in a way and not in the other? Does a mask of non null thickness and non null fabric count protect less than no material? Will it prevent absolutely no harmful particle from getting to me?

  Sick++||     Healthy   (works when sick wears it)
  Sick+     +||Healthy   (fails when healty wears it)

Do I understand this correctly?

[mikst]

When a sick person exhales into a mask, majority of fluids stop at mask. Why? Because fluid dynamics and inertia.

When a healthy person inhales wearing a mask big part of the air comes from the side, because it's an easier route and because fluid dynamics. Then healthy person touches their eyes with unwashed hands and still gets infected.

Official recommendation for sick people as far as I am aware is to change the mask every couple of hours, because by then enough fluid accumulates on the mask to pose threat.

"it's useless to you" - it's a freaking pandemic - nothing is about you, the fight is to stop exponential growth of the infected.

[Jugurtha]

>"it's useless to you" - it's a freaking pandemic - nothing is about you, the fight is to stop exponential growth of the infected.

Yes, and I'm doing my part by establishing work from home for the company, and staying home for weeks. What I'm asking is that the leading authorities not indulge in fuckery by spreading misleading information on how masks are useless for sane people on one hand, and on the other hand urge people to leave these masks to medical professionals.

I'm doing my part to stop the exponential growth, they need to do theirs. One good start is not to spread lies.

[mikst]

> Yes, and I'm doing my part by establishing work from home for the company

Now that is helpful!

What exactly you see as lies?