[chrisk]

If I continue taking precautions to avoid getting Covid-19, I'm not going to get it. The same can be said for the vast majority of people. The only reason more people aren't acting like me is because they are ignorant to how bad it could be to actually get the virus. 

I don't lock myself in my house. I go to stores to get things and wear a mask any time around people in or outside. But I don't hang out with others for a very long time either. Nor am I hopping on an airplane.  Could I get infected even by limiting risk?  Sure I could.  But CT reported 81 Cases Thursday and 41 Friday.  We have done the work and made the effort to mitigate spread in this state and it has worked. So this notion that it is inevitable that we get overrun by the virus is not supported by reality.  You have to actively choose to take risks that promote virus spread for it to spread.

I have heard so much conflicting information.  I have heard the mask is almost entirely for a person not to spread it to others.   But it does very little if anything to prevent someone from getting the virus.  The theory I heard is the virus in itself is so much smaller than the holes between threads of any mask material that there is no protection. 

Be interested to hear if any study has made a definitive conclusion about wearing masks.

Reading this thread has changed my opinion from optimistic to pessimistic about fall sports.  I don't see how when full practice with pads starts that everyone who hasn't had it yet won't get it.

There is an increasing body of evidence that masks are effective, more so in preventing the spread from the wearer.
There are not sufficient by themseleves to prevent transmission. They do not substitute for social distancing or touching; they are incremental. They are important in small meetings of some duration and they are important in casual contacts indoors (shopping, etc.) where 6 feet distance is not always possible.

The authorities discouraged masks initially because of the shortage for health care worksers, who definitely had to have priority. This predisposed people who were not likely to want to wear masks even less likely to be willing to do it.

[chrisk]

If I continue taking precautions to avoid getting Covid-19, I'm not going to get it. The same can be said for the vast majority of people. The only reason more people aren't acting like me is because they are ignorant to how bad it could be to actually get the virus. 

I don't lock myself in my house. I go to stores to get things and wear a mask any time around people in or outside. But I don't hang out with others for a very long time either. Nor am I hopping on an airplane.  Could I get infected even by limiting risk?  Sure I could.  But CT reported 81 Cases Thursday and 41 Friday.  We have done the work and made the effort to mitigate spread in this state and it has worked. So this notion that it is inevitable that we get overrun by the virus is not supported by reality.  You have to actively choose to take risks that promote virus spread for it to spread.

I have heard so much conflicting information.  I have heard the mask is almost entirely for a person not to spread it to others.   But it does very little if anything to prevent someone from getting the virus.  The theory I heard is the virus in itself is so much smaller than the holes between threads of any mask material that there is no protection. 

Be interested to hear if any study has made a definitive conclusion about wearing masks.

Reading this thread has changed my opinion from optimistic to pessimistic about fall sports.  I don't see how when full practice with pads starts that everyone who hasn't had it yet won't get it.

There is an increasing body of evidence that masks are effective, more so in preventing the spread from the wearer.
There are not sufficient by themseleves to prevent transmission. They do not substitute for social distancing or touching; they are incremental. They are important in small meetings of some duration and they are important in casual contacts indoors (shopping, etc.) where 6 feet distance is not always possible.

The authorities discouraged masks initially because of the shortage for health care worksers, who definitely had to have priority. This predisposed people who were not likely to want to wear masks even less likely to be willing to do it.