hehe nah. I should qualify what I wrote.
I'm not a Coronavirus conspiracy nutter. COVID-19 clearly exists and is dangerous for the elderly and those with existing illnesses.
All I'm saying is that:
- I'm naturally hesitant whenever companies with profit motives pretend that they are qualified to give health advice
- Masks are by no means a proven method to stopping circulation of the virus.
- There is some evidence that masks could make the spread of the virus WORSE and not better, for at least some people who do not use their mask correctly or become relaxed in their behaviour because they assume the mask is a perfect defence when it isn't.
I've worked in corporate for 16 years now and I know perfectly well how companies with profit motives behave. I can tell you they don't care for a second about your health, unless it affects their bottom line (which it does).
I'm perfectly happy to wear a mask if the government implements law requiring one to be worn in particular circumstances.
I also had to visit my cardiologist earlier this year and a requirement of visiting him at his surgery was that all patients had to wear a mask (which I was perfectly happy to do).
It makes perfect sense to have a mask on whenever you are around a hospital, doctors surgery or anyone with an existing condition.
Yeah, that was really just a joke. I get where you're coming from. We all know how it's going to go. The same way the plastic bag ban went.
"Here at Woolworths we are asking you to wear a mask in store. BTW, we now have masks on sale for $5 each"
There were some early studies that showed that masks may potentially make things worse. This was based on the assumption that the virus had the most impact from touching surfaces then touching your face. The more recent research has shown that masks work for two reasons:
1) They stop infected people from sneezing or coughing out the virus. Not entirely but a fair bit
2) They reduce the chance of the virus falling on your mouth. As we know now, touching surfaces with the virus then touching your face has a very, very tiny chance of infecting you. But being in the vicinity of someone who coughs, sneezes, or just speaks loudly. That's your highest chance of infection
The WHO has been very anti-mask. They now support the use of masks for the general public mainly in tight spaces (public transport, busy shops, etc). But the Australian government hasn't really updated their advice so it's still bloody confusing.
The Victorian government has made masks mandatory. I would expect the NSW government to do the same soon.