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A comment on SARS-CoV-2 concentrations and virus-laden aerosol distributions in outdoor air. Parent comment

Re:SARS-CoV-2 concentrations and virus-laden aerosol distrib... by InitialLastName on Monday November 23, 2020 @04:01PM (#25191825)
We should absolutely be normalizing wearing masks in public. In many parts of the civilized world (where, by miraculous chance, they've also handled Covid reasonably responsibly) people who were sick in public (or even just wanted to avoid putting on makeup) habitually wore masks pre-covid to avoid infecting others. I'd be willing to assert that it's exactly that habit (and a related set of hygiene conditions, in addition to an already-present infrastructure for home PPE) that helped them return to living much more normal lives through this pandemic.
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Re:SARS-CoV-2 concentrations and virus-laden aerosol distrib... by ryandrake on Tuesday November 24, 2020 @12:43AM (#25195658)
I wrote in another comment up thread, one great result of this pandemic is that it could help to normalize mask wearing in general. People’s mouths and noses are disgusting, and a common source of non-lethal aerosolized diseases. There is really little downside to wearing a mask while around people and healthy upside.

The societal norm/expectation that we wear clothing in public is no big deal. Why can’t we have a similar mask-wearing norm? I don’t see many anti-clothers protesting city hall over their right to go naked.

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Re:SARS-CoV-2 concentrations and virus-laden aerosol distrib... by strogonoff on Tuesday November 24, 2020 @01:19AM (#25195851)
One side-effect I am thinking of is that if our immune systems receive less challenge they could weaken over long term (maybe generations).

Hopefully that’s not how things work, or the effect has no practical significance.

Second best option, we’ll find a way to compensate for that.

Else, maybe we shouldn’t normalise masks to such a degree except for periods when it’s necessary.

Another side-effect is that masks should be replaced regularly, so everyone wearing masks at all times would mean a lot of waste (hopefully bio-degradable).

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