Well, the “you” in the first bit was the universal “you” not Sil ver specifically. I think we’re in agreement that thinking about the underlying risks and the benefits matter regarding the “wash your hands”—but that is also a rather low cost prevention. But the point, which I think you were making and I was supporting, was that the policy should be understood in the contexts of what the underlying risk is and what risks the policy solution can actually address.
That type of question, is it worth it, seems to be more applicable to the get a mask, and particularly one of the type we always see in the media. It is my impression that the experience from SARS was that the direct contact was the largely transmission mechanism and hands are the primary vehicle that moved the virus to an entry point (mouth, eye).
I agree that habits can be very hard to break—reinventing ourselves is hard. That said, being aware of our habits and what the implication are just makes some sense in the context of getting less wrong I would suggest. Again, it gets back to the context. Are you in a situation where paying attention to your habits makes a difference? If so make an effort at least on some habit hiatus or take the extra steps of washing/sanitizing your hands, in the case of biting fingernails.
Well, the “you” in the first bit was the universal “you” not Sil ver specifically. I think we’re in agreement that thinking about the underlying risks and the benefits matter regarding the “wash your hands”—but that is also a rather low cost prevention. But the point, which I think you were making and I was supporting, was that the policy should be understood in the contexts of what the underlying risk is and what risks the policy solution can actually address.
That type of question, is it worth it, seems to be more applicable to the get a mask, and particularly one of the type we always see in the media. It is my impression that the experience from SARS was that the direct contact was the largely transmission mechanism and hands are the primary vehicle that moved the virus to an entry point (mouth, eye).
I agree that habits can be very hard to break—reinventing ourselves is hard. That said, being aware of our habits and what the implication are just makes some sense in the context of getting less wrong I would suggest. Again, it gets back to the context. Are you in a situation where paying attention to your habits makes a difference? If so make an effort at least on some habit hiatus or take the extra steps of washing/sanitizing your hands, in the case of biting fingernails.