🌺️ Cannot believe that we used to put up with cloth masks. They are so unpleasantly unbreathable compared to N95 respirators that I cannot help but wonder if the overwhelming rejection of masking today is in part due to those horrible first impressions in 2020.
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I still sometimes get people responding to me saying "Ha! You think masks work???" and then they link to some article about cloth masks. The messaging has been atrocious.
@BE@qoto.org @croissant@zeroes.ca I wouldn't necessarily even bother with cloth masks when noone else is wearing one since they only offer unilateral protection.
But N95s work both ways. This has never been explained to the public in my country (the UK).
The other thing is the other day by fluke, the mask I was wearing and the two I put on after that all broke. So I tried to buy a replacement before getting the train. It was very, very difficult to find any.
One thing we could do is mandate that shops like newsagents and pharmacies must sell them by law (and document what happened if they run out). They could also be subsidised and perhaps in some places like bus and train stations available for free. The NHS gives out free condoms in the UK, so it's not like there's no precedent.