Admittedly I am biased by my hospital experience, with 100s of personal exposures using a surgical mask +/- face shield and this being standard practice, with patients +/- on masking and occupational health contact tracing finding single digit patient to hcw transmissions
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In the end im an empiricist. If someone is particularly vulnerable & in high exposure setting of course perfectly reasonable to upgrade if they wish, tho still seems to me simple guideline of 1 surgical mask most justifiable, esp w comfort/fit issues
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2766070 …2 replies 0 retweets 0 likes -
Replying to @AaronRichterman @mugecevik
I agree for hospital setting! But there, you have aggressive ventilation standards plus universal masking. The question is often coming from individuals who are forced to interact with people who don’t mask or do badly, and in poorly ventilated areas. PPE, not source control.
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Patient rooms have increased air exchanges, but that’s not always the case with touch-down areas and common spaces, like break rooms. For many, they move to surgical masks when in those spaces.
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Right. I have no opinion on the hospital setting, to be honest. It's working well and there are professionals on the job. The question I keep fielding is from people who work, for example, in a grocery store, are high-risk and their fellow workers are not the most diligent.
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Replying to @zeynep @SaskiaPopescu and
They're asking what can I do to protect myself better? I mean, if we had a magic wand we'd start by paying the highest-risk to stay home, masking everyone around them well, better ventilation... Meantime, though, there are people at risk, looking for upping their own defenses.
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Replying to @zeynep @SaskiaPopescu and
And I'd like the CDC to provide us with guidelines on that, especially for frontline essential workers and/or high-risk people who want to up their own defenses. What are their options? Can make it clear that this isn't what you need for your daily walk etc.
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I think the current recs are helpful (IPC intervention strategies) but agreed that some critical skills for handling situations where folks may not be masking would be helpful. Ultimately, I think the biggest issue is people leaning more on 1-2 of the interventions & not all.
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The people looking for better ways of defending themselves are usually doing whatever else they can, though. If anything, they are the most cautious group but without options at all layers (some of which require others to cooperate). This is the one part under their own control.
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Replying to @zeynep @SaskiaPopescu and
Like the early maskers who were shown to *also* distance more and wash their hands more, it'll probably end up as part of a bundle for these people. But clear guidance is exactly what we need so they understand the whys and the hows so they can use this tool appropriately.
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(Also forget N95s, I want properly certified cloth masks as well—the three specific layers as per the WHO guidelines plus nose bridge adjustment plus length adjustment. It's really shouldn't be on home sewers to get that right. The ones I see for sale are all over the place!)
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Replying to @zeynep @SaskiaPopescu and
zeynep tufekci Retweeted
(From a totally different thread I was tagged in. Hospitals have their game—and it's working. For most people in the community, we haven't had best practices and certification beyond "wear a mask". Soon, I hope though! They hit the ground running so far.) https://twitter.com/Voyageurfred/status/1354812598475087873 …
zeynep tufekci added,
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Standards and guidelines are well and good, and I think we align on what that could be. That’s very different from the “everyone should be wearing an n95” article I originally referenced, and the claim that there would be a 15-20% secondary attack rate with universal surg masks
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