The New York Occasions and Washington Post have now come around to a place I advocated for right here on Medium last week: We should 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.
Analysis from the SARS outbreak in 2003 shows that washing fingers 10+ occasions every day was 55% effective in stopping virus transmission; wearing a masks was really more efficient, reducing transmission by about sixty eight%.
Combining multiple forms of protection — hand washing, mask wearing, gloves, and one other layer of outerwear (gowning) — was ninety one% effective.
Read that once more: ninety one% effective at stopping virus transmission.
COVID-19 and SARS are related types of viruses (coronaviruses), and it makes sense that what works to stop transmission for one will work to cease transmission of the other.
Masks work, first, because they are a physical barrier to whatever’s riding alongside 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 keep you from touching your face all day long. The masks makes you more self-conscious of the fact that you’re not supposed to the touch your face- specifically, your mouth, nose, and eyes, and the areas round them- and if you by accident do, you’ll touch the mask, not your skin directly.
Third, the expertise of different nations 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 recent Youtube video showing how some nations have successfully “flattened the curve” on new infections: “If you have a look at all the countries which have flat curves, they’re countries where 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 government didn’t give them out.
Should you still should be persuaded, check out 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 didn’t work together with anyone spread the virus to 7 others, a few of whom have been seated a lot more than 6 ft away. Two new passengers caught the virus 30 minutes after the unique sick particular 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 the place individuals were sitting on the bus.
So let’s say you’re convinced, and now you’re thinking of some type of face covering. What are your options?
First, please don’t purchase masks commercially, if by some miracle you can find them now. Commercially made PPE needs to be reserved for medical personnel at this time. Sadly, the shortage of commercially made PPE, and the dearth of foresight that caused us to be in such a position of shortage, is probably why we initially bought this messaging of “Masks don’t work!” They do, people just didn’t need you to realize it for a while, to keep away from a run on masks. Think of the empty cabinets in supermarkets across America the place bathroom paper used to live, and you perceive why.
The best thing you are able to do to mask NOW are to make use of supplies across the house. Get inventive; anything that covers the mouth and nostril and stays in place will work.
While it’s greatest if the mask matches well and there are not any 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 keep you from touching the skin round your nostril and mouth directly, which might turn out to be an important mechanism by which masks block virus transmission. If you happen to inadvertently touch your face while you’re wearing a masks, you’ll just contact the masks, not your skin.
You’ll be able to attempt to shape your face covering utilizing pipe cleaners or opened-up rubber-coated paper clips in the half that goes over your nostril to make a tighter match — experiment. An important thing is that you wash your fingers, put in your face covering, and go out of the house protected.
Here is more regarding face coverings check out our web page.
آخرین دیدگاه ها