# Why was the American public told not to wear face masks? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 31, 2020, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742 "2020-03-31T15:06:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742/41 "2020-03-31T19:48:27Z")
To re-iterate this again, while South Korea has done well due to extensive testing, social distancing, etc, Japan is looking to currently be in the exponential phase right now, [thousands of cases and climbing](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/03/31/national/science-health/tokyo-coronavirus-cases/#.XoOd1nKhcuU) and they’re starting to institute the same measures other countries have had to do - distancing, stopping public events, etc. I wouldn’t take Japan at least as a success story for mass public masking just yet. Some of the recent pictures there of empty supermarket shelves is as alarming as they were for the US. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742/42 "2020-03-31T20:16:41Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > No, because: > > 1. There isnt a excess supply. Indeed. Though, that will change at some point in the next 12 months, whereas it’s somewhat unlikely that a cure or proper treatment will be released in the next 12 months. ---
**Author:** ![Waymore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Waymore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waymore)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742/43 "2020-03-31T20:27:29Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Vaccines? Fuck “choice”- you have none from now on. Either you do it, **or you go to jail**. > > Having a party in public and violating a stay at home order? In the clink you go, son. > > People need to be controlled. We need to be told how to behave. That’s a scary sentiment. If my choices are to live under authoritarian controls or let the virus ravage the world, then go COVID go. A society where people “need to be controlled” is not worth saving. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742/44 "2020-03-31T20:39:07Z")
> [@Waymore](#): > > That’s a scary sentiment. If my choices are to live under authoritarian controls or let the virus ravage the world, then go COVID go. A society where people “need to be controlled” is not worth saving. So far as murder is concerned, you are under authoritarian control. If you murder someone, you go to jail. Asahi has not suggested anything more. Or do you view the laws against murder as being an excessive infringement on your personal freedom? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742/45 "2020-03-31T20:58:57Z")
Masks available to the general public are good for blocking the wearer’s sneezes and coughs. But they don’t do much to protect the wearer from others because they’re the wrong kind of mask, and most people aren’t trained to wear or handle them properly. i.e. if you’re not a medical professional, you’ll probably touch that mask all day long with your hand out of habit, then remove the mask with that same hand, then keep right on touching your face. The next day you might reuse that same mask instead of properly disposing of it in a medical waste bin. The mask becomes a contamination vector, not protection. There’s probably also some anti-hoarding intent in this messaging as well. Nothing worse than a bunch of rich people buying up all the good masks and scalping them or misusing them when they’re needed by working professionals. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742/46 "2020-03-31T21:05:55Z")
> [@Waymore](#): > > That’s a scary sentiment. If my choices are to live under authoritarian controls or let the virus ravage the world, then go COVID go. A society where people “need to be controlled” is not worth saving. If it takes “authoritarian controls” to keep people from tearing down police tape so that they can congregate in a out of bounds park, or to keep people from enduring the hardship of sitting in their living rooms for a few weeks, or to keep people two metres away from others, that’s not a problem with our society, that’s a problem with really lazy, entitled people who don’t give a shit about others. ---
**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, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742/47 "2020-03-31T21:28:45Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > That’s crazy talk! No fish tank cleaner for you! > > CMC fnord! Yeah, said like a person whose username is Deep State code for “AEROSOLIZED CO(R)VID” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742/48 "2020-03-31T21:47:23Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > People are spreading this for seven days before they get symptoms. In cultures where people wear masks, transmission is way lower because the masks stop them spreading it. Which is why Japan and SKorea have done well. > > Masks stop spread, not stop you from catching it. It’s not hard to understand. … No, it’s because people in Japan and S Korea are used to obeying their government, and dont go have beach parties when they are supposed to be home. Dont mistake correlation for causation. And masks dont stop the spread, since idiots dont know how to wear them. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742/49 "2020-03-31T21:50:54Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Masks available to the general public are good for blocking the wearer’s sneezes and coughs. But they don’t do much to protect the wearer from others because they’re the wrong kind of mask, and most people aren’t trained to wear or handle them properly. > > i.e. if you’re not a medical professional, you’ll probably touch that mask all day long with your hand out of habit, then remove the mask with that same hand, then keep right on touching your face. The next day you might reuse that same mask instead of properly disposing of it in a medical waste bin. The mask becomes a contamination vector, not protection. > > There’s probably also some anti-hoarding intent in this messaging as well. Nothing worse than a bunch of rich people buying up all the good masks and scalping them or misusing them when they’re needed by working professionals. Yes. \*\* Yes! \*\* and yep. Look, just wear a bandana or make a cloth mask, that will at least help with a sneeze or cough and since you dont know how to use them- it will be just as helpful. Watch Last Week Tonight and you will see all the scary run-arounds\*\* Doctors \*\*have to do for masks since idiots are hoarding and wearing them- wrongly. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742/50 "2020-03-31T22:08:10Z")
> [@DaveRaver](#): > > Even if face masks don’t protect 100%, they are surely better than nothing. Countries like Japan where the public is encouraged to wear face masks has had a much smaller occurrence of COVID-19 transmission. Was it just a “white lie” to ease demand so that hospitals wouldn’t face a shortage? That may be so, but it seems they made the crisis much worse in the U.S., and was a terrible betrayal to public health. Facemasks do not protect the person wearing the mask. The sort of face masks you see in Asia are there to protect everyone else, they’re not effective at keeping viruses out. It is supposed to reduce transmission. This is a respiratory disease and if you have something catching all the virus coming out of your mouth and nose and you are less likely to transmit. They were arresting people in China for not wearing masks. > **[Video: Coronavirus: Woman in China arrested for 'refusing to wear mask' |...](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/china/video-2101288/Video-Coronavirus-Woman-China-arrested-refusing-wear-mask.html)** > > This clip shows the moment a woman in China is pinned to the floor and arrested for allegedly refusing to wear a mask to cover her face amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. The incident took place in Shenzhen, located in the Guangdong Province. > **[Video: Chinese woman appears to be dragged by police for not wearing a mask |...](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/coronavirus/video-2105964/Video-Chinese-woman-appears-dragged-police-not-wearing-mask.html)** > > This video shows the shocking moment a Chinese woman screams and cries as she is dragged by the police for allegedly not wearing a protective mask, as coronavirus continues to spread. > **[Shocking Videos Show Chinese Authorities Humiliating People For Not Wearing...](https://www.vice.com/en/article/3a8pv5/shocking-videos-show-chinese-authorities-humiliating-people-for-not-wearing-masks)** > > One video shows a man being tied up by his neighbors, who forced him to wear a bra as a mask. I can’t find it now but I think the woman in the red dress apologized on TV for being selfish and irresponsbile. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742/51 "2020-03-31T22:33:00Z")
I have also heard it explained that while the non-N95 masks are only partially effective at stopping the transmission of communicable disease, the percentage effectiveness is on par with handwashing: about 55%. No, I don’t have cites, I can locate cites if you really want them. Because of the shortages, there are medical personnel using ANYTHING for facial masks, including bandanas and diapers. Some personnel are issued N95 masks, and told to make one mask last a week. There are rooms strung with clothesline to hang the masks to dry. It’s my understanding that once the N95 mask gets wet, it is considered soiled and unusable. I am making facemasks of cotton fabric this week for my family members. My husband must go out for an echocardiogram; our daughter is driving him. They will be in a doctor’s office waiting room for God knows how long. I will have homemade masks for them to wear. They will have extras in their pockets, along with a plastic bag to hold soiled ones. My husband had a heart attack on January 17th. I want him to be as protected as possible, without having to buy black market N95s. N95 masks should be reserved for ICU and emergency personnel, IMHO. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742/52 "2020-03-31T22:57:45Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > They will be in a doctor’s office waiting room for God knows how long. I wonder if they’d let them wait in the car. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742/53 "2020-03-31T22:58:19Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > … > Because of the shortages, there are medical personnel using ANYTHING for facial masks, including bandanas and diapers. Some personnel are issued N95 masks, and told to make one mask last a week. There are rooms strung with clothesline to hang the masks to dry. > > It’s my understanding that once the N95 mask gets wet, it is considered soiled and unusable. > > I am making facemasks of cotton fabric this week for my family members. My husband must go out for an echocardiogram; our daughter is driving him. They will be in a doctor’s office waiting room for God knows how long. I will have homemade masks for them to wear. They will have extras in their pockets, along with a plastic bag to hold soiled ones. > > My husband had a heart attack on January 17th. I want him to be as protected as possible, without having to buy black market N95s. > > N95 masks should be reserved for ICU and emergency personnel, IMHO. Ok, if you make your own, that’s fine. As long as you arent buying N95. But they wont protect your husband. They might protect other people in the waiting room if either is sick. So, let me explain again- the fact masks dont protect you- they protect others \*from you. \* Washing your hands helps. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742/54 "2020-03-31T23:05:03Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Masks available to the general public are good for blocking the wearer’s sneezes and coughs. But they don’t do much to protect the wearer from others because they’re the wrong kind of mask, and most people aren’t trained to wear or handle them properly. > > i.e. if you’re not a medical professional, you’ll probably touch that mask all day long with your hand out of habit, then remove the mask with that same hand, then keep right on touching your face. The next day you might reuse that same mask instead of properly disposing of it in a medical waste bin. The mask becomes a contamination vector, not protection. > > There’s probably also some anti-hoarding intent in this messaging as well. Nothing worse than a bunch of rich people buying up all the good masks and scalping them or misusing them when they’re needed by working professionals. That’s an assumption: that people won’t wear them properly and reuse them. Not everyone will. Even an improperly worn mask or a reused mask is better than someone coughing and spreading cough or sneeze droplets into the ambient air - this is just common sense. It’s true that wearing a mask is not a guarantee that the person wearing the mask won’ get a virus, which are smaller than a micron. But they reduce the number of droplets, and more people wearing more droplets reduces the amount of virus in the air. If everyone wears masks, it offers a form of herd protection. Slowing a pandemic isn’t the job of a handful of individuals; it requires a collective response. It requires a fundamental change in how we are thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742/55 "2020-03-31T23:14:30Z")
First, I find it hard to believe that the face masks I occasionally buy at Home Depot, and wear while sanding and painting etc., cut into the supply of hospital masks. Maybe it’s the same supply chain but if the masks are for sale at Ace Hardware and Home Depot I don’t really thinking I’m cutting into the hospital supply, at all. (Note: I did not run out and buy any. I had some, because they came in a six-pack or a 10-pack or something like and I still had four left. And I understand they were in short supply at Ace et al. But hospital personnel are not buying their surgical masks at Ace et al.) Second, even a bandana can help reduce some things, like dust. It’s a barrier. It seems like a bandana, or a homemade mask, is a good deal better than fishnet. It probably shouldn’t give you a false sense of security. And it certainly helps with the whole touching-your-face thing. Not to mention reminding people who see you to stay far away. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742/56 "2020-03-31T23:47:01Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Second, even a bandana can help reduce some things, like dust. It’s a barrier. It seems like a bandana, or a homemade mask, is a good deal better than fishnet. It probably shouldn’t give you a false sense of security. And it certainly helps with the whole touching-your-face thing. **Not to mention reminding people who see you to stay far away.** (Bolding mine) Hey, I’m more than good with that! ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742/57 "2020-04-01T00:15:17Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > As I understand it, the virus particles are so small that if they’re in the air you’re breathing and you’re wearing a mask that’s sub-respirator level then - essentially - if you’re getting air into your lungs then you’re getting all the Coronavirus into your lungs as well. The air either goes through the mask and all the Corona goes through it as well or the air goes around the edges of the mask, and the Corona goes right along with it… The virus particles are not floating free in the air, though. They are attached to droplets from coughs and sneezes. Even a plain surgical mask will reduce (not _prevent_, but _reduce_) those somewhat - which is why those who are actually coughing are urged to wear masks. There’s been quite a lot of buzz in the past 24 hours that suggest everyone should wear masks in public - even if it’s a simple homemade one. I thought about getting some masks - but of course didn’t think of it until the prices were getting jacked up. My husband ordered several N95 masks online - from a website that turns out to be fraudulent. I bought a package of elastic “neck gaiters” which will do well enough for brief forays out for groceries etc. They won’t be perfect but they’re better than nothing. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742/58 "2020-04-01T01:24:24Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > That’s an assumption: that people won’t wear them properly and reuse them. Not everyone will. Even an improperly worn mask or a reused mask is better than someone coughing and spreading cough or sneeze droplets into the ambient air - this is just common sense. > … Sure. But you see- people are stupid. As Kay put it : \*A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. \* So by wearing a mask they \*think \*they are protected. But they arent. So they will do stupid fucking things. Same with gloves. \*Wash your damn hands, why is that so hard? \* Now sure, if you are sick, go ahead and wear a mask. But better yet- dont go out in public. If you thought you have Covid why the **FUCK** would you go out in public, mask or no mask? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742/59 "2020-04-01T02:26:26Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > If most people wore masks, transmissions would go way down. I don’t think that anyone has mentioned singapore? Singaporeans are not wearing masks, have not shut schools, have not exclusively worked from home. What they have done is extreme contact chasing and literally made tests available at practically free from thousands of locations. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742/60 "2020-04-01T04:12:28Z")
With Singapore’s view on corporal punishment, I’d think they’d simply beat the virus out of you with a cane. ~VOW [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-american-public-told-not-to-wear-face-masks/850742.md?page=4)