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Surgical masks in the street

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    Surgical masks in the street

    Seem to be getting more common, they even come in what are clearly "designer" styles and colours. My question. Do they actually do much, in most places? Here in Vancouver barring the odd few days in the Summer, and assuming there are no wildfires in the vicinity, the air quality is, I think, pretty OK. Or am I wrong?

    #2
    My understanding is that wearing one helps prevent other people catching a cold or the flu from you. But they don't do much in protecting you from whatever you're breathing. And the wearing of them is more common in East Asia than the West.

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      #3
      Yes, we have a high Asian population which accounts for the prevalence I guess. I'm assuming there must, at one time, have been signification public education programs in Asian countries which didn't happen in Europe or North America?

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        #4
        That is an interesting question that I don’t know the answer.

        What I can say is that over 95% of those I see with them in New York are East Asian

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          #5
          I can't speak for the veracity of this article (and I haven't heard of the site before, so take it on advisement), but this sounds plausible https://qz.com/299003/a-quick-histor...sks-in-public/

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            #6
            A lady seated nearby in the doctor's office waiting room sneezed without covering her mouth, and I instinctively pulled my scarf up over my nose. I wish I had thought to bring a mask. I guess those dust masks used for painting and such would help with germs too, wouldn't they?

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              #7
              Originally posted by ad hoc View Post
              I can't speak for the veracity of this article (and I haven't heard of the site before, so take it on advisement), but this sounds plausible https://qz.com/299003/a-quick-histor...sks-in-public/
              Fascinating.

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                #8
                Indeed, though I would have liked more background on why Japan adopted masks for the Spanish Influenza epidemic when few, if any, of the other countries affected did.

                ad hoc, Quartz is legit. It is owned by the Atlantic and staffed by veterans of top tier print operations.

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                  #9
                  The Quartz piece tallies with my admittedly less than encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject. A further circumstance not mentioned in the piece is the wearing of a mask during hay fever season.

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