The New York Occasions and Washington Post have now come round to a position I advocated for here on Medium last week: We should all be wearing masks. Not just health care workers, however ALL of us. Each time 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 really more efficient, reducing transmission by about 68%.
Combining multiple types of protection — hand washing, mask wearing, gloves, and one other layer of outerwear (gowning) — was 91% effective.
Read that again: 91% efficient at stopping virus transmission.
COVID-19 and SARS are related types of viruses (coronaviruses), and it is smart that what works to cease transmission for one will work to cease transmission of the other.
Masks work, first, because they are a physical barrier to no matter’s riding along on that air you’re breathing or moving through. Right here’s a chart showing the relative barrier effectiveness for varied materials:
Secondly, they work because they preserve you from touching your face all day long. The mask makes you more self-conscious of the truth that you’re not supposed to the touch your face- specifically, your mouth, nostril, and eyes, and the areas round them- and if you accidentally do, you’ll contact the masks, not your skin directly.
Third, the experience of different countries who masks show that masks work in the real world. Within the words of Jeremy Howard, researcher and Masks4All activist, explaining a chart in his current Youtube video showing how some nations have successfully “flattened the curve” on new infections: “When you look at all of the nations which have flat curves, they are countries where mask-wearing is extremely normal, and NOT wearing a masks in places like public transport can be considered anti-social.” He notes that the Czech Republic went from zero masks usage to a hundred% 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 the event you nonetheless must be persuaded, take a look at this Chinese study of a local outbreak case on January 22 throughout the peak Lunar New Year travel season. A sick particular person on the bus who did not interact with anyone spread the virus to 7 others, a few of whom had been seated a lot more than 6 ft away. Two new passengers caught the virus half-hour after the original 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 exactly where people had been sitting on the bus.
So let’s say you’re convinced, and now you’re thinking of some form of face covering. What are your options?
First, please don’t buy masks commercially, if by some miracle you could find them now. Commercially made PPE must 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 place of scarcity, is probably why we initially obtained this messaging of “Masks don’t work!” They do, people just didn’t want you to know it for a while, to avoid a run on masks. Think of the empty shelves in supermarkets throughout America the place toilet paper used to live, and you understand why.
The simplest thing you are able to do to mask NOW are to make use of supplies around the house. Get creative; anything that covers the mouth and nose and stays in place will work.
While it’s best if the masks suits well and there are no gaps between your face and the outside air, don’t hand over in your homemade mask in case you can’t achieve that. Any face covering will maintain you from touching the skin round your nostril and mouth directly, which might turn out to be the most important mechanism by which masks block virus transmission. When you inadvertently touch your face while you’re wearing a mask, you’ll just touch the masks, not your skin.
You’ll be able to try to shape your face covering utilizing pipe cleaners or opened-up rubber-coated paper clips within the half that goes over your nose to make a tighter fit — experiment. The most important thing is that you simply wash your hands, put in your face covering, and exit of the house protected.
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