Originally Posted by germanaviator

I think it should be pretty obvious that masks do make a difference. Everyone I now who got infected (and can trace that infection back to its likely origin) got it from close contact with another infected person who did not wear a mask. My brother from his date, my co-worker and his nine friends from après-ski partying in Austria, and similar.

I have been everywhere in Europe in the last six months including all of the early hot spots such as Northern Italy and Madrid for example. I have been wearing masks indoors in public spaces, kept my distance to strangers where possible and washed hands regularly. I recently had a negative antibody test result so I have been able to avoid catching the virus despite a lot of traveling, including pretty full airline cabins. But: Everyone was wearing their masks at least most of the time.

Whenever larger outbreaks are traced back to their source, here in my country those often originate from events were people meet without masks such as birthday parties or going out at night, drinking and letting their guard down.

It does not make sense to compare one area where masks have been worn with other areas where masks have not been worn. It would only make sense to compare the same area over the same time period with and without masks. But that is not possible.

I'm sure if we look at where people get infected it will be where people are in close contact for more than a few brief moments, not wearing masks. And that happens in places where masks are required public. Young people or families meeting for private parties will do it. In my country the top experts in the field pretty much agree that mask do make a difference as most transmissions are through aerosols and droplets and not surfaces. My personal experiences and observations fall in line with that scientific consensus. To that end I think it would be absolutely irresponsible to not require masks on aircraft as long as there is no vaccine and/or pre-boarding testing. The empty middle seat also helps because when an infected person sitting next to you coughs or sneezes then whatever makes it passed the mask will come out mostly to the sides. Cabin air ventilation and filtration are all good things but have limited to no effect towards protecting from an infected seat neighbor.

I'm not living in fear, before anyone throws that argument at me. I'm not paranoid. I'm not even scared about getting this. But I do feel that we have a responsibility towards the more vulnerable. If wearing masks and perhaps even keeping middle seats empty for a while helps getting people back into airplanes and keeping all passengers reasonably safe from infection then why condemn it. Those who say masks don't work: Please show your evidence. Sure, some masks are better than others. But to say masks don't work is at the very least a gross oversimplification and probably plain wrong.