Quote:
Originally Posted by Drdoug49
Good point about masks. If masks didn’t protect you, why do healthcare workers wear them?
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Because a) they spend 8-14 hours every DAY very physically close to, and touching, and being breathed on, coughed on, spit on, sneezed on, slobbered on, and bled on by sick people and the risk of catching ANYTHING from sick people is so preposterously high compared to the average housewife at the supermarket, it's ridiculous to even ask the question.
and b) because they should not be spreading THEIR germs to their patients, even if they're not sick with an illness. Everyone - including healthy doctors - harbors bacteria in their mouths, noses, on their skin, in their pores, in their digestive systems, in the fluids of their eyeballs. Exhaled breath contains microscopic specks of bacteria. Most of it is benign. But combined with someone who is deathly ill, in the hospital, and your patient, it could be a death sentence.
Those two reasons are why hospital staff wear masks in hospitals. Just the question itself is - insanely ridiculous.
It's like asking why you don't carry an air compressor in your car, but auto mechanics keep one in their shops all the time.