The New York Occasions and Washington Post have now come around to a place I advocated for here on Medium last week: We should all be wearing masks. Not just health care workers, but ALL of us. Every time we exit in public.
Why?
Because they work.
Research from the SARS outbreak in 2003 shows that washing palms 10+ occasions daily was fifty five% effective in stopping virus transmission; wearing a masks was really more effective, reducing transmission by about sixty eight%.
Combining a number of forms of protection — hand washing, masks wearing, gloves, and one other layer of outerwear (gowning) — was ninety one% effective.
Read that once more: 91% efficient at stopping virus transmission.
COVID-19 and SARS are similar types of viruses (coronaviruses), and it makes sense that what works to cease transmission for one will work to stop transmission of the other.
Masks work, first, because they are a physical barrier to no matter’s driving along 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 keep you from touching your face all day long. The mask makes you more self-conscious 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 unintentionally do, you’ll touch the masks, not your skin directly.
Third, the expertise of different nations who mask show that masks work within the real world. In the words of Jeremy Howard, researcher and Masks4All activist, explaining a chart in his current Youtube video showing how some countries have efficiently “flattened the curve” on new infections: “Should you take a look at all of the international locations which have flat curves, they are international locations the place mask-wearing is extraordinarily regular, and NOT wearing a masks in places like public transport can be considered anti-social.” He notes that the Czech Republic went from zero mask utilization to 100% in 10 days, and within the process they halted the growth of new covid-19 cases. The Czechs made their own masks- the federal government didn’t give them out.
In case you still must be persuaded, take a look at this Chinese study of an area outbreak case on January 22 during the peak Lunar New Year travel season. A sick person on the bus who didn’t interact with anyone spread the virus to 7 others, a few of whom had been seated much more than 6 ft away. Two new passengers caught the virus 30 minutes after the unique sick person had left the bus. NONE OF THE PEOPLE WEARING MASKS WERE INFECTED. Read the article, it’s very detailed, with a schematic of precisely where people have been 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 would find them now. Commercially made PPE should be reserved for medical personnel at this time. Unfortunately, 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 received this messaging of “Masks don’t work!” They do, of us just didn’t want you to understand it for a while, to keep away from a run on masks. Think of the empty shelves in supermarkets across America the place toilet paper used to live, and also you understand why.
The best thing you can do to masks NOW are to make use of supplies around the house. Get artistic; anything that covers the mouth and nose and stays in place will work.
While it’s finest if the masks fits well and there are no gaps between your face and the outside air, don’t quit in your homemade masks if you happen to can’t achieve that. Any face covering will preserve you from touching the skin around your nostril and mouth directly, which might grow to be the most important mechanism by which masks block virus transmission. Should you inadvertently contact your face while you’re wearing a mask, you’ll just touch the masks, not your skin.
You can try to form your face covering using pipe cleaners or opened-up rubber-coated paper clips in the half that goes over your nostril to make a tighter match — experiment. Crucial thing is that you just wash your fingers, put on your face covering, and exit of the house protected.
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