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WHO: Healthy people should wear masks only if caring for coronavirus patients

Schism

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Healthy people should wear masks only if caring for coronavirus patients, WHO says

The World Health Organization is recommending healthy people, including those who don’t exhibit COVID-19 symptoms, only wear masks when taking care of someone infected with the contagion, a sharp contrast from the advice given by American public health officials who recommend everyone wear a mask in public.

“If you do not have any [respiratory] symptoms such as fever, cough or runny nose, you do not need to wear a mask,” Dr. April Baller, a public health specialist for the WHO, says in a video on the world health body’s website. “Masks should only be used by health care workers, caretakers or by people who are sick with symptoms of fever and cough.”

People have become crazy over the mask issue, and here we're being told we don't need it.

Watch Democrats: "Fake News"
 
Healthy people should wear masks only if caring for coronavirus patients, WHO says



People have become crazy over the mask issue, and here we're being told we don't need it.

Watch Democrats: "Fake News"

Sigh.. the WHO should know better. Most people will miss the "HEALTHY" caveat.

Wearing masks does little to protect healthy people from infection. We know this. We also know that contagious people should wear masks, that makes a great deal of difference. The problem is that we don't have enough testing to know who's contagious and who isn't.

Edit: I should know better than to trust the NYPost... That is absolutely not what the WHO said. They did not say that people should only wear masks if caring for infected patients. They said that you DO need to wear a mask if you're caring for someone, and you do not need to wear a medical grade mask otherwise... Saying you *DO NOT NEED* to wear a certain type of mask is vastly different from saying that you *SHOULD NOT* wear one.
 
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Wait.

I thought the WHO was full of **** and conspiring with china?

Funny that the second they say something you agree with they are a credible source again.

Feel free to quote me. I'll wait.
 
If you're infected and spreading the virus, it's obvious that wearing a mask will help prevent the spread. The mask will catch some of your spittle particles.

This is the main reason to wear a mask.
 
From The Who website - link below

- If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with COVID-19.

- Wear a mask if you are coughing or sneezing.

- Masks are effective only when used in combination with frequent hand-cleaning with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.

-If you wear a mask, then you must know how to use it and dispose of it properly.

When and how to use masks
 
If you're infected and spreading the virus, it's obvious that wearing a mask will help prevent the spread. The mask will catch some of your spittle particles.

This is the main reason to wear a mask.

Your advice supersedes WHO recommendations? Interesting authority you have there.
 
If you're infected and spreading the virus, it's obvious that wearing a mask will help prevent the spread. The mask will catch some of your spittle particles.

This is the main reason to wear a mask.

Not to beat a dead horse, but many people are carriers and spread the disease without knowing it. You cannot tell which person you are sitting next to has Covid 19 by looking at him. The WHO should know better.

Edit: just read what the WHO is actually recommending. As another poster said here they do not recommend MEDICAL GRADE masks unless you are taking care of a Covid patient if you are healthy. I did not see that they recommend face coverings; that wasn't mentioned as far as I could see.
 
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Edit: I should know better than to trust the NYPost... That is absolutely not what the WHO said. They did not say that people should only wear masks if caring for infected patients. They said that you DO need to wear a mask if you're caring for someone, and you do not need to wear a medical grade mask otherwise... Saying you *DO NOT NEED* to wear a certain type of mask is vastly different from saying that you *SHOULD NOT* wear one.

Here come the word twisters with an agenda to prove CNN and Pelosi right.
 
just wear your damned mask

christ

Why...for posterity? As a "symbol"? Either W.H.O. is the preeminent authority on global health, or they're NOT.

Which one is it?
 
Your advice supersedes WHO recommendations? Interesting authority you have there.

The vid is talking about MEDICAL masks. Not "civilian" cloth face coverings.
If you only wear a mask when symptomatic, then you could have been spreading virus for a week or more. Cloth masks do not protect, they limit YOUR infectiousness.

Your vid is superseded by the one to the right of it on your linked page. BOTH are aimed at professionals and care staff. Not lay people.
 
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The OP is purposely disinforming of the facts and the WHO did a poor job of explaining the facts.

We can't tell when next to someone if they have the virus. A minimum of 33 to 80% of new cases are asymptomatic. That's why we need to test, test, test. We just don't have all the facts. Trump has done His damndest to avoid testing as best/worst as possible. WE DON’T KNOW WHO IS HEALTHY SO AS TO KNOW WHO DOES NOT NEED TO WEAR A MASK.

The stupidity of the OP is beyond practical comprehension. The major failure of wearing masks is that the US govt has not distributed N95 masks to everybody by use of the DPA to mass produce the masks and distribute them at no cost to everyone everywhere. Not even frontline workers have enough to use properly. The self-made cloth masks are inefficient. As it is, an N95 mask should be replaced after no more than 30 minutes of continued use. Many frontline workers at many hospitals are using them all day long.

The OP is against defending the public against the deadly public health threat of the coronavirus.
 
The vid is talking about MEDICAL masks. Not "civilian" cloth face coverings.
If you only wear a mask when symptomatic, then you could have been spreading virus for a week or more. Cloth masks do not protect, they limit YOUR infectiousness.

These homemade cloth masks are nothing more than a placebo that have about the same effect as sneezing or coughing into your arm. And according to some reports, the COVID virus can remain airborne for some time and travel further than 18 feet, which calls into question the "6 foot social distance" rules - another placebo.

While guidelines have wavered all over the place, the one consistent message has been, "Orange Man's Fault"
 
These homemade cloth masks are nothing more than a placebo that have about the same effect as sneezing or coughing into your arm. And according to some reports, the COVID virus can remain airborne for some time and travel further than 18 feet, which calls into question the "6 foot social distance" rules - another placebo.

While guidelines have wavered all over the place, the one consistent message has been, "Orange Man's Fault"

Your gratuitous ignorance betrays your intent. The technical guidance below the vid clearly says:

"This document provides advice on the use of masks in communities, during home care, and in health care settings in areas that have reported cases of COVID-19. It is intended for individuals in the community, public health and infection prevention and control (IPC) professionals, health care managers, health care workers (HCWs), and community health workers. This updated version includes a section on Advice to decision makers on the use of masks for healthy people in community settings."
 
Cloth masks do not protect, they limit YOUR infectiousness.

What others don't do can kill me.

I can't help but to point out how ridiculous this sounds; THINK about it for a second. Here's the claim:

1) The cloth mask protects everyone around me by preventing me from infecting others.

2) The cloth mask DOES NOT protect me from contracting the infection from others.

The mask either works both ways, or it doesn't. It may help prevent large droplets, but certainly not from the infection itself.
 
Wear yours and don't worry so much about what others do.

Surely you know by now that wearing masks is intended to protect others from the mask wearer. So that advice makes no sense. I am not more at risk if I don't wear my mask, but by not wearing it I could unknowingly infect others.

To me it's nothing more than common courtesy. This seemingly growing intolerance of masks is akin to "NO, I will NOT consider the well being of others!!! If I want to unknowingly infect someone it's my goddamn right to do that!"
 
Advice on the use of masks in the community, during home care and in healthcare settings in the context of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

Community settings
Studies of influenza, influenza-like illness, and human coronaviruses provide evidence that the use of a medical mask can prevent the spread of infectious droplets from an infected person to someone else and potential contamination of the environment by these droplets.13 There is limited evidence that wearing a medical mask by healthy individuals in the households or among contacts of a sick patient, or among attendees of mass gatherings may be beneficial as a preventive measure.14-23 However, there is currently no evidence that wearing a mask (whether medical or other types) by healthy persons in the wider community setting, including universal community masking, can prevent them from infection with respiratory viruses, including COVID-19.
 
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