- A face mask experiment shows precisely why this particular piece of personal protective equipment is a key tool in reducing the risk of coronavirus transmission.
- A doctor performed the same test with and without a face mask to demonstrate how many microorganisms a person can expel by sneezing, coughing, singing, and simply speaking.
- The experiment showed that a face mask can significantly reduce exposure to the virus, thus minimizing the risk of contracting COVID-19.
Each person can do three things to reduce the risk of getting the new coronavirus. That’s washing hands frequently, avoiding crowds and sticking to social distancing practices, and wearing face masks every time you go out. Neither is perfect and there is no 100% protection against infection. But this combination may be enough to dramatically reduce the risk of transmission. Of the three measurements, face masks have become a major point of discussion in recent weeks. Rather than appreciating this simple tool that can potentially save lives, some people question the political motives behind the mandates to wear masks. The face mask became a political tool rather than a must-have piece of PPE that can prevent the spread of COVID-19. It’s not just in the US where some people offer mindless resistance to face masks, it’s a move seen elsewhere as well.
There is no denying that the science behind face masks works and can in fact stop the spread of microorganisms. I don’t think so. A doctor went ahead and performed a very simple experiment to demonstrate how efficient facial masks can be when it comes to a pandemic.
“What does a mask do? It blocks the respiratory drops that come out of the mouth and throat, ”said Dr. Rich Davis on Twitter, where he posted a simple demonstration showing the principle of the face mask.
He held an agar culture plate a foot away from his face and then sneezed, sang, spoke, and coughed twice. He did the same while wearing a mask and then published the results. Agar culture plates are used in microbiology to cultivate various pathogen cultures. Davis is the director of the clinical microbiology laboratory at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Washington, so he is clearly in a position to know precisely how these Petri dishes work.
As expected, the plates that were exposed to the germs expelled from Davis’s mouth grew significantly more bacteria, as seen in the image below. The agar plates that were protected by his mask clearly illustrate the effectiveness of the mask. There are almost no visible traces of bacterial growth in most of them, compared to the plates that were directly exposed to Davis.
Bacteria, of course, are different from viruses, but the point is the same. A face mask can protect both the user and those close to him. Much research shows how easy it is for airborne droplets to sneeze, cough, and even regular speech, and how they can become airborne virus-carrying sprays. A face mask can reduce the risk of transmission while sharing the same space with other people, whether at work, at the grocery store, or anywhere else.
Furthermore, the fact that Davis was holding the culture plaques so close to his face highlights the importance of social distancing. The closer you are to a person, the greater the risk of transmission.
We saw research in recent months that also showed how a single infected person transmitted the virus to 52 other people in the same choir group, after a singing session that lasted less than three hours. Separately, China’s contact trackers determined that a family member transmitted the virus to people sitting at three different tables in a restaurant, including members of her own family. Both examples come from a time when the coronavirus threat was not yet reported or minimized. And given the setup, people are unlikely to wear face masks while eating or singing.
Davis’s experiment should help people explain how easy it is for a person to spread bacteria and viruses around them and protect themselves from the same germs.
Chris Smith started writing about gadgets as a hobby, and before he knew it, he was sharing his views on technology topics with readers around the world. Every time he doesn’t write about gadgets, he unfortunately doesn’t stay away from them, even though he tries desperately. But that is not necessarily a bad thing.
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