Complete Guide to Wearing Face Masks
The New York Occasions and Washington Post have now come round to a place I advocated for here on Medium last week: We should all be wearing masks. Not just health care workers, however ALL of us. Whenever we exit in public.
Why?
Because they work.
Research from the SARS outbreak in 2003 shows that washing fingers 10+ instances day by day was 55% effective in stopping virus transmission; wearing a masks was truly more efficient, reducing transmission by about sixty eight%.
Combining multiple forms of protection — hand washing, masks wearing, gloves, and one other layer of outerwear (gowning) — was 91% effective.
Read that again: ninety one% effective at stopping virus transmission.
COVID-19 and SARS are related types of viruses (coronaviruses), and it is sensible 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 whatever’s riding along on that air you’re breathing or moving through. Right here’s a chart showing the relative barrier effectiveness for varied supplies:
Secondly, they work because they maintain you from touching your face all day long. The mask makes you more self-acutely aware of the truth that you’re not supposed to touch your face- specifically, your mouth, nostril, and eyes, and the areas around them- and when you unintentionally do, you’ll contact the mask, not your skin directly.
Third, the expertise of other international locations who masks show that masks work within the real world. Within the words of Jeremy Howard, researcher and Masks4All activist, explaining a chart in his recent Youtube video showing how some countries have efficiently “flattened the curve” on new infections: “In case you have a look at all of the countries which have flat curves, they are countries the place masks-wearing is extremely normal, and NOT wearing a masks in places like public transport could be considered anti-social.” He notes that the Czech Republic went from zero mask usage to a 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.
In case you nonetheless must be persuaded, take a look at this Chinese study of a neighborhood outbreak case on January 22 in the course of the peak Lunar New Year travel season. A sick particular person on the bus who did not interact with anybody spread the virus to 7 others, some of whom have been 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 where folks were sitting on the bus.
So let’s say you’re satisfied, 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 may discover them now. Commercially made PPE ought to be reserved for medical personnel at this time. Unfortunately, the shortage of commercially made PPE, and the lack 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, folks just didn’t want you to comprehend it for a while, to keep away from a run on masks. Think of the empty cabinets in supermarkets across America the place 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 artistic; anything that covers the mouth and nostril and stays in place will work.
While it’s best if the mask suits well and there aren’t any gaps between your face and the outside air, don’t surrender on your homemade mask for those who can’t achieve that. Any face covering will keep you from touching the skin round your nostril and mouth directly, which might transform crucial mechanism by which masks block virus transmission. In case you inadvertently touch your face while you’re wearing a mask, you’ll just contact the mask, 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 match — experiment. Crucial thing is that you wash your palms, put in your face covering, and go out of the house protected.
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