“Also, though it’s true that an individual virus particle is incredibly tiny, many will be clustered in larger droplets that can be affected by coverings.”
The larger particles are heavier and hit the ground in 3-10 feet. Hence “social distancing”. If it is small enough to stay airborne, it is small enough to pass thru the vast majority of masks.
“You’d have to explain to me why you think covid won’t get on those particles...”
The small aerosol sized COVID can get on those particles. They will also pass freely thru your mask to get TO those particles. Arguably, a mask would prevent those dust particles that have come into contact with a COVID aerosol to enter your body. In which case, wearing a mask you help YOU and someone else not wearing a mask would do you no harm. So if YOU wish to wear a mask, have at it!
But masks are made mandatory on the idea it will keep me from spreading it, by trapping COVID inside my mask. And that will not happen with the smaller stuff, while the larger stuff will fall to the ground anyways.
Meanwhile, extensive contact tracing indicates someone who is asymptomatic - not sneezing, coughing or with a fever - spreads the disease to no more than 1% of new cases. The biggest study to date gave an answer of 0.3%. So yeah, avoid SYMPTOMATIC people and you’re 99% or more in good shape!
To date, I’ve know 3 people with COVID. All asymptomatic except one had a mild fever. One died with it - although I doubt he died OF it. All three were/are married. None of their spouses caught it, in spite of living with and sleeping with the COVID spouse!
A distinction lost on most Governors and enemedia...not that there is much difference.
“But masks are made mandatory on the idea it will keep me from spreading it, by trapping COVID inside my mask. And that will not happen with the smaller stuff, while the larger stuff will fall to the ground anyways.”
In a high traffic store one may find ‘droplets’ in the air, or the aerosols. It’s a reasonable assumption.
Of course, the mandatory mask rules are for both the infected and the not infected.
Not a fan of them- I ignore mine all the time unless a store insists. Then I wear a surgical mask that obviously does no good with my full beard.
Symptomatics should stay home. But there may be good reason they can’t.
Just this week heard of a family I know that’s got it. Quaranteening at home with very mild symptoms so far.
>> “The larger particles are heavier and hit the ground in 3-10 feet.” <<
Well, that upper range is a pretty big distance. I walk within a few feet of people in the grocery store often, and in the checkout line am usually at no more just a few feet away from the cashier.
As for the small droplets that get through a mask, apparently there weren’t enough of them for me to feel a gust of air a couple of feet away when I did a test cough with a mouth covering. If that test doesn’t matter, and if virus particles don’t need to be propelled, but can merely slip through and float in the air for a long time, then it seems to me that not just masks but social distancing too won’t be of much help (that is, if such quantities are enough to cause the disease).
Until I see good evidence of that, though, I’m going to assume that masks and distancing significantly reduce the chances of getting sick.