Masks do help, even (maybe) stopping 75% of influenza, and you can make them

In the West the public have been discouraged from wearing face masks, and told they aren’t much help. This is mostly because they are “much help” and the front line docs and nurses really need them. That daft messaging will go down as a case study in how not to communicate (or build trust). Indeed, we probably do want people to wear masks in the street, because it almost certainly does slow transmission. (See this Lancet article suggesting that).

In high density East Asian nations, face masks are common. (And viral growth curves are generally slower.) Possibly after Coronavirus has gone, masks in winter might be more common here too.

Things can change fast:

Kamil Chudačík, twitter:

In Czech Republic we went from: “Look at the idiot wearing a mask!” to “Look at the idiot not wearing a mask!” in 2 days. I can say the czechs are very conservative in terms of changes so I’m surprised by this behavior. The DIY mask industry

There’s a reason medical staff need face masks. They do filter out small enough particles. They stop people getting sick. There are scores of papers. And if no medical masks are available, then even […]