Homemade Covid 19 mask patterns and resources?

[Dr_SLO]

So what you're saying is that a homemade mask with some kind of tighter weave of paper or similar will noticeably reduce the amount of virus-carrying particles out into the aire.

But, just cloth, even when doubled up will have little impact on the volume and velocity of virus-carrying particles going out into the air around the people using them?

Who knows how effective home made masks are. There have been limited studies suggesting they are 5-fold more effective than not wearing a mask but a surgical mask was 3 times more effective in blocking transmission than a homemade mask. it's not clear what that translates to in a real world setting. It's still not clear how well surgical masks work at the population level. From my understanding that study has not been performed.

There's an editorial in the British Medical Journal, Covid-19: should the public wear face masks?, that discusses the whole subject. The article finishes with this statement...

Greenhalgh and colleagues argue that, given the gravity of the pandemic, indirect evidence of benefit combined with the low risk of harm should outweigh the absence of direct evidence supporting mask wearing by the general public.

...and, in true survey fashion, I somewhat disagree with this because of a potential for increased face touching, contamination and alike from ill fitting masks, and a lack of standardization. Time will tell if facemasks are useful but with the uptick in cases for Singapore and Japan might be weakening the argument.

 

[Climber]

Who knows how effective home made masks are. There have been limited studies suggesting they are 5-fold more effective than not wearing a mask but a surgical mask was 3 times more effective in blocking transmission than a homemade mask. it's not clear what that translates to in a real world setting. It's still not clear how well surgical masks work at the population level. From my understanding that study has not been performed.

There's an editorial in the British Medical Journal, Covid-19: should the public wear face masks?, that discusses the whole subject. The article finishes with this statement...



...and, in true survey fashion, I somewhat disagree with this because of a potential for increased face touching, contamination and alike from ill fitting masks, and a lack of standardization. Time will tell if facemasks are useful but with the uptick in cases for Singapore and Japan might be weakening the argument.

As always, thanks for taking the time to share your expertise! :thumbup

I'm sure that there are many others in here who share my appreciation for all of your expert input.

 

[Archimedes]

Who knows how effective home made masks are. There have been limited studies suggesting they are 5-fold more effective than not wearing a mask but a surgical mask was 3 times more effective in blocking transmission than a homemade mask. it's not clear what that translates to in a real world setting. It's still not clear how well surgical masks work at the population level. From my understanding that study has not been performed.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that standing 10 feet away from people out in public is gonna be better than any homemade underwear mask.

 

[Dr_SLO]

As always, thanks for taking the time to share your expertise! :thumbup

I'm sure that there are many others in here who share my appreciation for all of your expert input.

:thumbup

 

[Dr_SLO]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that standing 10 feet away from people out in public is gonna be better than any homemade underwear mask.

Exactly. Strolling along in a sparsely populated area outdoors likely presents zero risk. In crowds and enclosed spaces, the underwear masks are better than nothing but not a forcefield.

 

[ctwo]

And in a lot of places, primarily where we would be in closer proximity and in an enclosed area, they are becoming law...