And just to clarify, again people are talking about surgical masks. N95 masks, which are still "cheap paper masks", indisputably work. This is way beyond debate.
Translated from Norwegian:
- Does a facemask help against spreading virii?
- No, not when you are using it out among people. The point is that you will scratch your face and get your fingers in contact with your soft tissue. So it is counterproductive to use these regular paper masks, says associate in microbiology and infection control at the University of Southeast Norway, Jörn Klein.
[1] https://www.nettavisen.no/nyheter/smittevernforsker-munnbind...
So they're saying that... masks will help if you don't touch your face? Makes sense to me, the PPE that the CDC recommends involve a face shield in addition to a mask.
Also, it dodges the question of - "What if, being adults, we train ourselves not to scratch our face (in view of the seriousness of the issue)? Will masks help then?"
Surgical masks don't work. Surgical masks are a subset of masks, and it is grossly inaccurate to extrapolate that out to "masks don't work".
