# Where are all these people getting masks? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 31, 2020, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709 "2020-03-31T00:58:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709/21 "2020-03-31T13:17:08Z")
My wife sewed a homemade cloth mask that she makes me wear when I make a run to the store or the gas station. Out of 100 people I see, maybe two are wearing masks? Folks look at me like I grew a third eyeball. But I face the wrath of wife if I don’t wear it, so don it I do. In her country, Korea, masks I believe are mandatory. I think one can be heavily fined if you don’t wear a mask. Such a difference between two countries. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709/22 "2020-03-31T13:30:45Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > OP, sneer right back. Those masks offer very little protection. This is dangerous nonsense. I know you’ve been reading this in the media here and there but it’s absolutely false. They are certainly not a perfect defense but they do reduce the likelihood of infection. You are literally better off - much better off, actually - wrapping a T-shirt around your nose and mouth than doing nothing. No one should be out in public without a mask. This bizarre opposition to using them will be remembered as one of our greatest failures in dealing with COVID-19. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709/23 "2020-03-31T13:47:15Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > You are literally better off - much better off, actually - wrapping a T-shirt around your nose and mouth than doing nothing. No one should be out in public without a mask. This bizarre opposition to using them will be remembered as one of our greatest failures in dealing with COVID-19. I can’t remember where I saw the chart, but the benefit to using improvised masks is that an infected person will not spread the virus as much. The benefit to the mask wearer is not as great. If the virus gets close enough to get to the surface of the mask, the improvised mask will not do much to prevent the virus from passing through. Yes, it’s better than nothing, but it’s not offering a lot of protection. But wearing a mask means that a lot of the droplets and virus someone exhales will stay in the mask and not travel as far if they leave the mask, so fewer people should catch the virus from an infected person. It’s probably also just as important to have proper mask technique for the mask to help. The wearer needs to do everything to keep the surface of the mask as sterile as possible. If they do things like set it down on a contaminated surface or adjust the mask with contaminated hands, they will have virus very close to their mouth and nose and risk breathing it in. And then when they take off the mask, they should consider it contaminated and treat it as such. Any virus on the mask could be transferred to anything it touches. Mistakes with mask technique could mean someone’s risk of catching the virus is actually higher than without a mask. If someone treats the mask as a magical sterilization mask, they may be more less cautious in public and may end up getting infected from virus which is on the surface of the mask. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709/24 "2020-03-31T14:00:41Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > N95 masks are no better than surgical masks unless they are properly sized, fit tested and worn correctly. Until we can get supplies up please leave the N95 masks for the healthcare providers who desperately need them. Hopefully, everyone will be able to get surgical masks soon, although I still can’t get any more for my practice and we are saving them for patients who are febrile or coughing and MUST be seen. Yeah, I’m getting annoyed at store customers I see who are very much wearing N95’s incorrectly. One woman who seemed to be wearing it properly lamented it was uncomfortable. Yes. Because they have to have a tight seal masks like that can be uncomfortable to wear. But I say nothing. It’s not a battle I can win with a customer and I’m saving my energy for other things. I wish, though, that folks who don’t know how to wear N95’s properly would donate them and use a bandana, because the bandana would do them just as much good as their improperly fitted N95, but for a medical worker the N95 might be lifesaving. Thinking of whipping up a couple of home masks myself for the day when work starts telling us to wear them and the customers start expecting it. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709/25 "2020-03-31T14:16:32Z")
I work at a veterinary clinic, so they gave us all surgical masks and told us to wear them when we were there. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709/26 "2020-03-31T14:18:32Z")
I think I have three N95 masks in the garage. I’m a woodworker, so I also have a respirator for fumes, and boxes of nitrile gloves for dealing with solvents and the like. Also have gloves in the house for handling poultry, etc. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709/27 "2020-03-31T14:49:49Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Some might have had a small stash for other uses. That’s our situation- my wife has done enameling in the past- the powder/torch kind, not the paint kind. The enamel powder is essentially super finely ground glass and pigments, so to do it, you have to wear a mask lest you inhale it, which would not be good, because as bad as powdered glass is to breathe, some of the pigments can be worse. So we have a small stash of p95 masks that she has for doing that, and I got a set of P100 filters for my respirator(typically use 3m 6001 organic vapor cartridges for mosquito fogging) for her to use one time before her masks showed up from Amazon. I’m actually debating whether I’m going to wear one or not for going to the grocery pickup here in a minute. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709/28 "2020-03-31T15:03:47Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > I can’t remember where I saw the chart, but the benefit to using improvised masks is that an infected person will not spread the virus as much. The benefit to the mask wearer is not as great. If the virus gets close enough to get to the surface of the mask, the improvised mask will not do much to prevent the virus from passing through. That’s right - obviously, if I am wearing a mask, droplets outta my gross mouth can be stopped before they get anywhere near you. If they are stopped by a mask YOU are wearing, they are stopped an inch from your face, which isn’t as good. But think of the benefits if we’re BOTH wearing them. Much of the opposition to masks seems to be “well they’re not perfect.” Okay, but neither are seat belts, smoke detectors, handrails, motorcycle helmets, or a bazillion other safety devices we assume, correctly, to be important to use. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709/29 "2020-03-31T15:08:26Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > There remains an enormous stigma here to a person wearing them; you’re expected to donate anything you have to the hospitals. I haven’t noticed any particular stigma in Toronto. Maybe it’s because I live in a neighbourhood with a large Asian population. ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709/30 "2020-03-31T15:17:18Z")
You can make your own. I suspect for a substantial majority it’s just a matter of waiting for someone else to do it for you. Do it yourself - it’s not a sophisticated piece of technology. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709/31 "2020-03-31T16:35:48Z")
Yeah, we have two respirators and one N95 mask in the garage from when there were wildfires and also for wearing when sanding things. I’m looking for patterns online so we can make some homemade masks. I’m convinced that if we could get everyone to wear them, it would make a difference. Not in protecting the wearer, but in drastically reducing exhaled droplets from infected people. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709/32 "2020-03-31T16:40:53Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Yeah, we have two respirators and one N95 mask in the garage from when there were wildfires and also for wearing when sanding things. > > I’m looking for patterns online so we can make some homemade masks. I’m convinced that if we could get everyone to wear them, it would make a difference. Not in protecting the wearer, but in drastically reducing exhaled droplets from infected people. It does offer the wearer some protection. Even if it reduces the likelihood of catching the virus by ten percent, wouldn’t any sane person take that? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709/33 "2020-03-31T16:45:10Z")
Lot of Bay area, San Fran-San Jose, have left over smoke masks from the big drought fires. Round here, it looks like a lot are settling for painter’s masks. Intstructables, Joanne Fabrics, and now even the N.Y. Times have patterns for making your own cloth masks. Not hard if you can sew and have a machine. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709/34 "2020-03-31T16:57:23Z")
I have a few left over surgical masks from when I was in chemo. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709/35 "2020-03-31T17:09:56Z")
I was glad to discover that the 2 masks we bought a year or so ago to do some fiberglass window insulation in the basement are N95s. I’m asthmatic, so every little bit helps. (Not that we are going much of anywhere lately anyway, but just in case.) ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709/36 "2020-03-31T17:22:46Z")
I usually have masks and disposable gloves around for DIY and wooden boat maintenance projects. I have plenty of gloves [del] but no masks sadly at this point. I used the masks up last year and never replaced them.[/del] ETA: Actually, I just checked, we do have a small box of basic dust masks. I realized I am too anal to not replace something like that and sure enough they’re down there. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709/37 "2020-03-31T17:45:03Z")
We have 3 of us here, and I have 3 N95 masks from some sheetrock work left over from a project, I also have 3 R-95 masks which meets the same standards of a N-95 mask does plus would work with atomized oil in the air, it also contains a activated charcoal layer. I got those as part of my living near a nuclear power plant bug out kit IDK if they would work for that but it ain’t going to hurt. So far I have not had to use those as intended. My SO has 2 unused doctor’s office waiting room masks she got from a visit last year. That’s our stash. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709/38 "2020-03-31T19:25:00Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It does offer the wearer some protection. Even if it reduces the likelihood of catching the virus by ten percent, wouldn’t any sane person take that? The message that I’ve been hearing (e.g. from Dr. Isaac Bogoch on CP24) is that standing 2 metres away from a possibly infected person prevents basically all possibility of airborne transmission, but if you’re a belt-and-suspenders kind of person who feels better wearing a mask, then go for it. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709/39 "2020-03-31T19:33:24Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > This is dangerous nonsense. I know you’ve been reading this in the media here and there but it’s absolutely false. They are certainly not a perfect defense but they do reduce the likelihood of infection. > > You are literally better off - much better off, actually - wrapping a T-shirt around your nose and mouth than doing nothing. No one should be out in public without a mask. This bizarre opposition to using them will be remembered as one of our greatest failures in dealing with COVID-19. You can belittle my post as “dangerous nonsense” and believe “the media” is disseminating nonsense, but if you want to argue with the experts reporting that masks are not only ineffective but _dangerous_, you’re going to need to cite your own superior credentials. [Here’s a study](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4420971/) from 2015 involving 1600 healthcare workers. > [@](#): > > This study is the first RCT of cloth masks, and the results caution against the use of cloth masks. This is an important finding to inform occupational health and safety. Moisture retention, reuse of cloth masks and poor filtration may result in increased risk of infection. Further research is needed to inform the widespread use of cloth masks globally. However, as a precautionary measure, cloth masks should not be recommended for HCWs, particularly in high-risk situations, and guidelines need to be updated. Now let’s[hear from](https://thewirecutter.com/blog/your-coronavirus-questions-answered/)a professor of epidemiology at the U. of Iowa: > [@](#): > > There is limited data to suggest that face masks can help protect against the coronavirus because they prevent you from touching your face. > > Physical barriers, such as surgical or cloth masks, are not a “better than nothing” option for being out in public. “With surgical masks,” says Dr. Eli Perencevich, professor of internal medicine and epidemiology at the University of Iowa’s College of Medicine, “people don’t wear them correctly.” Perencevich notes that people “drop it below their nose, or drop it below when [they] eat. And then you’re just contaminating your face.” > > Surgical masks are designed to be single-use. For those not used to wearing these or disposing of them properly, **there is a big risk of auto-contamination** (you touch an infected surface, and then touch the front of your mask, leaving only a thin barrier between your mouth and nose and the virus). In the event that you have some of these already and you share a home with someone, we recommend you hold onto them, should anyone in your household become infected. They’re intended to protect the healthy from the sick. And [this:](https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/01/29/800531753/face-masks-what-doctors-say-about-their-role-in-containing-coronavirus) > [@](#): > > “I do not believe that homemade masks are a prudent endeavor for people to engage in,” said Dr. Amesh A. Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. > > A homemade mask would “not very protective and **may paradoxically increase the risk of infection if people touch their face and have a false sense of security** ,” Adalja said. > > Surgical masks are just a physical barrier that will protect you against “a visible splash or spray of fluid or large droplets,” explains Raina MacIntyre, an infectious disease researcher and professor of global biosecurity at the University of New South Wales in Sydney who has studied the efficacy of face masks. These masks fit loosely on the face around the edges, so they don’t completely keep out germs, and small airborne particles can still get through… > > MacIntyre notes that cloth masks — which people wash and reuse — are also common in Asian countries. She says there’s no evidence to show they have any benefit, and her research suggests they “may actually be harmful,” because infrequent washing and moisture retention can make cloth masks a breeding ground for pathogens. > … > Some infectious disease experts have also suggested that wearing a face mask may have some value if it keeps you from touching your face and nose. That’s a common way germs get into our bodies — say, touching a doorknob someone sneezed on, then perhaps inadvertently bringing your fingers to your eyes, nose or mouth. But Clarence Tam, a public health researcher at the National University of Singapore, notes that because wearing masks can be uncomfortable, " **the discomfort might make you actually touch your face more." This could contaminate your fingers with any germs that might have attached themselves to the outside of the mask.** tl;dr: masks not only let in viruses, but they may actually be dangerous because of the risk of contamination. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709/40 "2020-03-31T19:39:50Z")
I have a nice supply of dust masks that I keep on hand for dusty work outside, heavy cleaning inside, and decorating/undecorating live trees at holiday time. They’re not N95 though; all of them are specifically rated for household/yard dust only. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-people-getting-masks/850709.md?page=3)