The New York Instances 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, but ALL of us. At any time when we go out in public.
Why?
Because they work.
Research from the SARS outbreak in 2003 shows that washing hands 10+ instances daily was fifty five% efficient in stopping virus transmission; wearing a mask was really more efficient, reducing transmission by about 68%.
Combining a number of types of protection — hand washing, mask wearing, gloves, and one other layer of outerwear (gowning) — was ninety one% effective.
Read that again: ninety one% effective at stopping virus transmission.
COVID-19 and SARS are similar types of viruses (coronaviruses), and it is sensible that what works to cease transmission for one will work to cease transmission of the other.
Masks work, first, because they’re a physical barrier to whatever’s using alongside on that air you’re breathing or moving through. Here’s a chart showing the relative barrier effectiveness for various supplies:
Secondly, they work because they hold you from touching your face all day long. The masks makes you more self-acutely aware of the fact that you’re not supposed to the touch your face- specifically, your mouth, nostril, and eyes, and the areas around them- and for those who unintentionally do, you’ll touch the mask, not your skin directly.
Third, the experience of different international locations who mask show that masks work within the real world. Within the words of Jeremy Howard, researcher and Masks4All activist, explaining a chart in his latest Youtube video showing how some countries have efficiently “flattened the curve” on new infections: “When you have a look at all the countries which have flat curves, they are nations the place masks-wearing is extremely regular, and NOT wearing a mask in places like public transport can be considered anti-social.” He notes that the Czech Republic went from zero masks usage to one hundred% in 10 days, and within 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.
When you nonetheless should be persuaded, take a look at this Chinese examine of a local outbreak case on January 22 in the course of the peak Lunar New Year travel season. A sick particular person on the bus who didn’t interact with anyone spread the virus to 7 others, a few of whom were seated much more than 6 ft away. Two new passengers caught the virus 30 minutes after the original 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 the place individuals had been sitting on the bus.
So let’s say you’re satisfied, and now you’re thinking of some kind of face covering. What are your options?
First, please don’t buy masks commercially, if by some miracle you may discover them now. Commercially made PPE must be reserved for medical personnel at this time. Sadly, the scarcity of commercially made PPE, and the shortage of foresight that caused us to be in such a position of scarcity, is probably why we initially bought this messaging of “Masks don’t work!” They do, of us just didn’t want you to realize it for a while, to keep away from a run on masks. Think of the empty cabinets in supermarkets across America where bathroom paper used to live, and also you understand why.
The easiest thing you can do to masks NOW are to make use of materials across the house. Get creative; anything that covers the mouth and nostril and stays in place will work.
While it’s best if the masks matches well and there are not any gaps between your face and the outside air, don’t give up on your homemade mask if you can’t achieve that. Any face covering will preserve you from touching the skin round your nostril and mouth directly, which may become crucial mechanism by which masks block virus transmission. If you happen to inadvertently contact your face while you’re wearing a masks, you’ll just touch the masks, not your skin.
You possibly can try to form your face covering utilizing pipe cleaners or opened-up rubber-coated paper clips within the half that goes over your nostril to make a tighter fit — experiment. A very powerful thing is that you just wash your hands, put in your face covering, and go out of the house protected.
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