The New York Occasions and Washington Post have now come around to a position I advocated for right here on Medium final week: We must always all be wearing masks. Not just health care workers, however ALL of us. At any time when we go out in public.
Why?
Because they work.
Analysis from the SARS outbreak in 2003 shows that washing hands 10+ instances every day was 55% efficient in stopping virus transmission; wearing a masks was truly more effective, reducing transmission by about 68%.
Combining multiple types of protection — hand washing, masks wearing, gloves, and another layer of outerwear (gowning) — was 91% effective.
Read that once more: 91% effective at stopping virus transmission.
COVID-19 and SARS are comparable types of viruses (coronaviruses), and it is smart that what works to stop transmission for one will work to stop transmission of the other.
Masks work, first, because they’re a physical barrier to no matter’s driving along on that air you’re breathing or moving through. Right here’s a chart showing the relative barrier effectiveness for various materials:
Secondly, they work because they maintain you from touching your face all day long. The mask makes you more self-acutely aware of the fact that you’re not supposed to touch your face- specifically, your mouth, nose, and eyes, and the areas around them- and in the event you by accident do, you’ll contact the mask, not your skin directly.
Third, the experience of other countries who mask show that masks work in the real world. In the words of Jeremy Howard, researcher and Masks4All activist, explaining a chart in his latest Youtube video showing how some international locations have efficiently “flattened the curve” on new infections: “When you look at all of the international locations which have flat curves, they’re countries where mask-wearing is extraordinarily regular, and NOT wearing a mask in places like public transport could be considered anti-social.” He notes that the Czech Republic went from zero masks utilization to 100% in 10 days, and in the process they halted the expansion of new covid-19 cases. The Czechs made their own masks- the federal government didn’t give them out.
If you happen to still must be persuaded, check out this Chinese examine of an area outbreak case on January 22 through the peak Lunar New Year journey season. A sick individual on the bus who did not work together with anybody spread the virus to 7 others, some of whom had been seated much more than 6 ft away. Two new passengers caught the virus half-hour after the unique sick individual had left the bus. NONE OF THE PEOPLE WEARING MASKS WERE INFECTED. Read the article, it’s very detailed, with a schematic of exactly where folks were sitting on the bus.
So let’s say you’re convinced, and now you’re thinking of some sort of face covering. What are your options?
First, please don’t buy masks commercially, if by some miracle you could discover them now. Commercially made PPE should be reserved for medical personnel at this time. Sadly, the shortage of commercially made PPE, and the lack of foresight that caused us to be in such a place of scarcity, is probably why we initially got this messaging of “Masks don’t work!” They do, people just didn’t need you to comprehend it for a while, to keep away from a run on masks. Think of the empty cabinets in supermarkets throughout America where toilet paper used to live, and you perceive why.
The best thing you can do to masks NOW are to use materials around the house. Get creative; anything that covers the mouth and nostril and stays in place will work.
While it’s greatest if the mask suits well and there aren’t any gaps between your face and the outside air, don’t quit on your homemade masks for those who can’t achieve that. Any face covering will preserve you from touching the skin around your nostril and mouth directly, which could grow to be crucial mechanism by which masks block virus transmission. If you inadvertently touch your face while you’re wearing a mask, you’ll just touch the mask, not your skin.
You may try to shape your face covering using pipe cleaners or opened-up rubber-coated paper clips in the part that goes over your nose to make a tighter match — experiment. Crucial thing is that you simply wash your hands, put in your face covering, and exit of the house protected.
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