Thread by @kurteichenwald

1. The lying of Trump et. al. about coronavirus unfortunately makes people question everything they say. But they've been truthful about one important thing:

DON'T WEAR A FACE MASK UNLESS YOU ARE SICK!

If you are well, it can possibly INCREASE your chance of infection..

2...the people who need to wear them are those who are sick. Here's why: The virus does not just float in the air where you can breath it in. It is contained in the billions of droplets we touch every day, which also do not float.

The danger, then, is your hands. If you...

3...you touch one of those droplets - on a doorknob of someone who touched the doorknob after touching a countertop that had droplets - you have the first step toward infection. After that, the most common transmission of these kinds of viruses comes from hand to your face....

4...so touching your face - and not washing your hands - are the two most dangerous things. We touch are faces hundreds of times a day. BUT - what happens when you wear a face mask? If you have not been extensively trained (i.e. a medical professional) on how to use one, you...

5...INCREASE the number of times you touch your face. The vast vast majority of people put them on wrong, or straighten them with their hands, or take them off wrong. You are bringing your hands up to your face more often when you wear one. So - if you are well - you have...

6...created a scenario where you are doing exactly what you should not be doing more often.

The worst part: there are two groups of people who desperately need face masks: medical personnel and the ill. Medical personnel are touching droplets constantly, they know exactly....

7...how to wear them, and they are constantly doing what the healthy are supposed to be doing: washing their hands. They also know when to wear latex gloves, and change them constantly and THEN wash their hands.

The sick need them because it decreases the number of droplets....

8...coming out of their mouths. It doesn't eliminate them, but it decreases the chance of infecting others.

Bottom line: Face masks are designed to keep droplets with the virus *in* - they are not designed to keep them *out.*

Worst, if you buy one "just in case" (thus...

9...increasing your chance of infection) you are decreasing the number available in a shortage for the sick and for medical personnel - the people you need to treat you if you *do* get sick.

If healthy Bob takes the last one that Sick Sue was going to buy, Sue will spread more..

10...of the virus and Bob is more likely to get infected.

So, bottom line: On *this* the Trump Admin is telling the truth. What you should do to decrease risk is wash your hands obsessively. And if you are in the high-risk groups (elderly etc.) dont go out unless you have to.