D&D and the rising pandemic

[Ryujin]

An N95, at least a properly fit-tested one which actually seals, does indeed protect the wearer. But almost no one is wearing a fit-tested N95 in public. They're mostly wearing cloth or surgical masks, or occasionally K-N95s or even full N95s which just haven't been fit-tested and so don't have a proper seal.

Non-fit-tested masks DO provide at least a little protection for the wearer, but it's pretty minor. The degree of protection varies depending on the thickness and material of the mask, and how well-fitted it is. Which is also true of its ability to catch your own respiratory droplets to protect others, but that efficacy is substantially greater than the degree to which it protects you. Both are aided by distancing, which reduces the amount of viral load either party is exposed to, though if you're in an enclosed area with an infected person for an extended period (say, an hour+), distancing isn't much help.

So you're both basically right- masks are primarily to reduce our own viral dispersal if we are pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic carriers, with only a secondary role of offering us some minor protection against viral spread from others. This is somewhat distinct from how the fit-tested masks and eye protection worn by frontline healthcare providers are indeed primarily for their own safety.

I'm still wearing reusable, washable, multi-layer cloth masks for the most part. I was offered N95 testing but if you have facial hair it won't seal properly, so that wasn't a possibility when the test was offered. (I didn't have a razor in my back pocket.) Also, the N95 masks we stocked at the time weren't the best/best fitting in the world. Some who went through with the fitting tests aren't bothering to use them. We've got some 3M on order that should be much better but, given that classes are still likely to be remote until at least the end of January (expecting an announcement soon), it's likely still not a pressing issue.

 

[Mannahnin]

IIRC, the whole issue with masks and public guidance was that at first, they were trying to preserve N95 masks (and similar) for front-line and health care workers, and because of supply issues didn't want people hoarding them. Which is why we started with the confusion about even wearing masks.

Then they realized that wearing any kind of mask (such as cloth) would protect others, so people starting wearing masks because we had mask requirements, but a lot of them didn't understand those subtle distinctions (plus, yay capitalism, every business started selling cloth masks to people).

Now there are sufficient supplies of N95 masks, but the messaging has been so messed up for so long people either aren't wearing masks, or are just wearing their supply of cloth masks as needed.

Yes, there was some of that, for sure.

Plus a couple of real clinical factors. 1. That Covid simply has a significantly higher rate of asymptomatic and presymptomatic transmission than we've seen from previous coronaviruses. 2. That the Western medical establishment has in general been less-sold, historically, on the value of general masking (compared to Asia, for example), figuring that the general public is bad at wearing them and likely to contaminate them through carelessness and significantly compromise their value. Once we learned how common asymptomatic and presymptomatic transmission are with this disease, the value of masks became more obvious.

But yeah, N95s definitely give better protection both ways, and are worth getting. I had a small supply last year and specifically wore them in heightened-risk situations. Especially when I'd be in a crowd and unable to distance, like at protests (especially before we had good data on how much being outdoors mitigates risk).

 

[Cadence]

with only a secondary role of offering us some minor protection against viral spread from others

It would be fun to have a table of what the saving throw bonus would be for various safety things (motorcycle helmets, seat belts, air bags, n95 masks, etc.)...

... if nothing else we'd fill a thread with arguing about the scenarios used.

 

[Mannahnin]

It would be fun to have a table of what the saving throw bonus would be for various safety things (motorcycle helmets, seat belts, air bags, n95 masks, etc.)...

... if nothing else we'd fill a thread with arguing about the scenarios used.

You might enjoy the microcovid risk calculator.

https://www.microcovid.org/

 

[Ryujin]

It would be fun to have a table of what the saving throw bonus would be for various safety things (motorcycle helmets, seat belts, air bags, n95 masks, etc.)...

... if nothing else we'd fill a thread with arguing about the scenarios used.

Back when the "Aftermath" RPG came out, I thought that they overrated the protection of motorcycle helmets. I took an older one to my favourite plinking location and put a .44 hollow point through it. Might as well have been made of cardboard.

 

[Umbran]

Might as well have been made of cardboard.

Yes, well, it is intended to protect your head from pavement, not bullets.

 

[Ryujin]

Yes, well, it is intended to protect your head from pavement, not bullets.

Obviously, but the Aftermath rules implied otherwise. Trust me; I'm well acquainted with the construction and purpose of motorcycle gear

 

[Zardnaar]

I'm pretty good with my mask wearing. I don't usually wear it walking down the street unless I'm in town.

Use is close to 100% in the local supermarkets and generally avoid the shops.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Back when the "Aftermath" RPG came out, I thought that they overrated the protection of motorcycle helmets. I took an older one to my favourite plinking location and put a .44 hollow point through it. Might as well have been made of cardboard.

Range matters more with penetration on most guns than almost any game system accounts for. There's also some big differences in how well various weapons penetrate versus how they do damage (some relatively small caliber rounds will punch through armor that will often do pretty trivial damage unless they hit a vital organ, while some bladed weapons will rip you up pretty good but have really substandard penetration). Even Aftermath wasn't going to go down that rabbit hole, so the armor values are sort of averages against a lot of different things.

 

[Umbran]

Okay, folks. SARS-COV-2 is not a bullet. If you want to argue over ballistics, take it to another thread, please.