WHY DO MASKS SEEM NOT TO WORK?
Because contagion still happens where people don’t wear them (restaurants, households, etc)
Does it mean masks are useless?
No!
(thread)
Let me explain. First of all, a single unmasked exposure can be enough to cat the virus.
This means that if I wear the mask 95% of the time than go eat at an indoor restaurant while cases are high, and I catch the virus, it doesn’t mean masks don’t work.
The critical point: if I spend enough time indoors with many people unmasked AND cases are high, surely I will catch the virus, no matter how much I wear a mask in other occasions
BUT if I don’t spend much time indoors unmasked OR cases are low, how much I wear the mask matters
This means that when cases are high, transmission will sustain itself (within households and restaurants) even if people wear the masks at work and in the bus.
Hence the impression that mask mandates (which kick in when cases are high) do not work.