Quote: VegasriderAP for bank robberies. Now you can rob a bank and don't have to worry about getting recognized. Wearing a mask and sunglasses. Nobody will 2nd guess your intentions.
Sorry the banks are not open except for appointments or window tellers
Quote: DeMangoSorry the banks are not open except for appointments or window tellers
Depends who you bank with. Mine is open, certain branched.
Quote: TDVegasThis looks to be a fairly exhaustive study. I’m not talking about people talking out of their asses....but there does seem to be some credible studies that don’t promote the idea that masks are effective. They also cite that wearing masks may cause other issues such as people not washing their hands as much, touching or readjusting their mask and other issues related to wearing a mask that might contribute to “ineffectiveness”.
The reality is there is no concrete evidence to support a blanket statement that masks work for a pandemic such as this. We may know at some point....but that will be further down the line.
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/5/19-0994_article
The transmission modes for influenza -the subject of the study posted above -are very different than for Covid-19. This article is probably not relevant.
We all know that Covid-19 is aspirated from human mouths inside of water particles. However, the initial studies simply assumed that all the virus was in large aspirated water particles which sink pretty quickly to the ground or onto other surfaces (countertops, etc.) This was the basis for the original guidance that hand washing was critical, but face masks were not a good source of protection - because large water particles plummet below the face level fairly quickly.
BUT THAT HAS ALL CHANGED. Covid-19 is also transmitted in small water particles of 5 microns diameter (and maybe even smaller) that come out of the human mouth, . Such tiny particles do not sink rapidly to the ground. They may stay airborne for tens of seconds to tens of minutes.
One piece of good news - smaller water particles will usually have a smaller viral load than large particles -which may result in a less severe course for the virus in the human body.
SO here are some bottom lines that I believe:
1. Face masks are essential for stopping the virus.
2. You can be walking or jogging and literally become infected by traveling through air that has been recently vacated by another person.
3. Even small crowds in indoor spaces with less-than optimal ventilation pose substantial jeopardy of infection -probably infecting a large fraction of the people present.
4. A distance of 6 feet, while a large help in reducing transmission, is probably not a large enough separation in some situations.
Why isn't this reaching the level of Dr. Fauci? Because of rivalries amongst epidemioligists -conservative epidemioligists who have stressed hand-washing don't want to reverse direction and concede that they were wrong. Science is as bedeviled by assholes who are trying to profit by building a reputation as any other field of human endeavor.
Replies here, rationalizing mask wearing by expanding on the few, older studies that exist and concluding that those studies aren't applicable because of some supposed difference between COVID and influenza makes no more sense than other "scientific" advise about playing roulette or craps. "Experts" exist everywhere, especially nowadays when all you need to be one is an internet connection.
When new scientifically valid studies are completed, verified and published, the facts will become known. It may well be that mask wearing will turn out to be an effective way to prevent the spread of the virus. When I see reports like the one cited above that confirm this, I will believe them.
But until then, I never accept as The Whole Truth anything that I see on the web, on television, or in a forum on gambling.
Quote: racquetNo one that frequents these forums is a medical expert
SOOPOO is an MD
Quote: gamerfreakSOOPOO is an MD
Here is another MD's story and his advice [People got burnt, then they will learn quickly not to repeat the same mistake twice]:

"I thought I was INVINCIBLE—I thought I was immune to this coronavirus because I am healthy and young. But I was wrong..."
https://medicine.iu.edu/blogs/student-life/i-am-not-invincible-my-covid-19-story