It’s not true that the only protection lost would be from asymptomatic people, though that would still be a big deal if a quarter of cases are asymptomatic and R is above 4, which it likely is in a population taking no other precautions. And even without masks, people who actively feel very sick often seek treatment and are diagnosed, and when not, mostly aren’t going out in public much. But there are two other groups that matter;
Presymptomatic spread is a big deal for COVID, and accounts for much of why it spreads quickly. That’s why we saw such short serial transmission intervals. And if you don’t eliminate the rapid spread, you’re not getting much benefit from masks.
Paucisymptomatic people, who have a slight runny nose or temperature and nothing else, are fairly common, might not notice, or will assume it’s not COVID, since it’s mild, and spread the virus. (And this category partly overlaps with the previous one—people often start manifesting minor symptoms before they notice all of them.)
It’s not true that the only protection lost would be from asymptomatic people, though that would still be a big deal if a quarter of cases are asymptomatic and R is above 4, which it likely is in a population taking no other precautions. And even without masks, people who actively feel very sick often seek treatment and are diagnosed, and when not, mostly aren’t going out in public much. But there are two other groups that matter;
Presymptomatic spread is a big deal for COVID, and accounts for much of why it spreads quickly. That’s why we saw such short serial transmission intervals. And if you don’t eliminate the rapid spread, you’re not getting much benefit from masks.
Paucisymptomatic people, who have a slight runny nose or temperature and nothing else, are fairly common, might not notice, or will assume it’s not COVID, since it’s mild, and spread the virus. (And this category partly overlaps with the previous one—people often start manifesting minor symptoms before they notice all of them.)