Major medical facilities in the United States have endorsed: Universal masking is essential for the nation to find its way out of a crippling COVID-19 pandemic and for schools to return to session and the economy to restart.
“The data is clearly there, that masking works,” Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an Internet broadcast with the Journal of the American Medical on Tuesday. Assn. “If we could get everyone to wear a mask right now, I really believe that in the next four, six, or eight weeks, we could control this epidemic.”
A CDC study published Tuesday said that in early May, a survey estimated that approximately 76% of American adults who left the house the previous week had worn a cloth face covering.
Another CDC report of two stylists in a salon in Missouri showed the masks’ remarkable effectiveness in preventing disease transmission.
The stylists became ill with respiratory symptoms and continued to work in the salon for several days, only to later test positive for the coronavirus.
The stylists attended 139 clients while they were ill, generally spending 15 to 45 minutes with each of them. However, it was not reported that a single client became ill, and none of the examinees received a positive result. The reason? Scientists believe it was because both stylists and their clients wore masks.
There are a number of myths circulating that suggest that masks are not needed or are in some way harmful. Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine and an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, recently debunked them during a roundtable discussion on campus city hall.
Myth No. 1: You don’t need to wear a mask while you’re out because sunlight kills the airborne coronavirus
That is wrong. Sunlight does not immediately eliminate the coronavirus. While outside is generally safer than being indoors, it is possible to become infected while you are outdoors. A study identified an outbreak that occurred outdoors in a village in central China’s Henan Province.
A recent study determined that 90% or more of the virus would inactivate after being exposed to 11 to 34 minutes of midday sunlight in most US cities in the summer. But that applies only to viruses deposited on surfaces. “This does not translate into human transmission,” said Chin-Hong.
Myth n. # 2: You only need to wear a mask if you have symptoms
Incorrect. People with mild symptoms, or who are infected but never show signs of disease, account for more than half of all COVID-19 cases, Chin-Hong said.
So-called silent spreaders are responsible for most transmission cases, a new study found. “Furthermore, such silent transmission alone can withstand outbreaks even if all symptomatic cases are immediately isolated,” the authors wrote.
“Talking, yelling, exercising and singing can also spread [virus-carrying respiratory] drops, in addition to what we focus on, which is coughing and sneezing, when someone is physically ill, “the study found.
Myth No. 3: Masks reduce blood oxygen levels and increase carbon dioxide levels.
False. There have been a number of erroneous posts on social media claiming that wearing masks lowers oxygen and increases carbon dioxide levels in the blood, Chin-Hong said.
In fact, all masks provide adequate air flow.
“Just as oxygen can go in, carbon dioxide can go out safely,” he said.
Tests with a device called a pulse oximeter have confirmed that wearing masks does not cause a drop in oxygen levels in the blood. Even masks are safely used by patients with severe lung disease.
Myth No. 4: Anything other than an N95 mask is useless to limit virus transmission.
Is not correct. N95 masks are certainly important in certain hospital settings when healthcare providers insert breathing tubes into patients’ throats.
But for the general public, the goal is to prevent most of the user’s potentially infectious respiratory droplets from falling into other people’s eyes, nose, and mouth.
A mask also helps the user to avoid infections: if you approach an infectious person, a mask will still filter out a good amount of virus particles. Breathing a smaller amount of the virus can cause illness or a mild infection; no mask at all, otherwise you could inhale a large volume of virus particles, which can lead to severe symptoms or death.
“Any mask can provide a barrier for respiratory drops,” said Chin-Hong. “Fit and comfort are more important than anxiety about the type of mask you wear in the community.”
However, wearing a mask is not about eliminating all risk. It’s about reducing risk.
“When I give you a cholesterol medication … I am not telling you that you will never have a heart attack. I’m saying it will reduce your risk substantially, “Chin-Hong said in comparison.
So the bottom line is: wear whatever mask is comfortable. And don’t be obsessed with the type of mask you are wearing, “he added.
A face shield with a curtain on the bottom edge may be an alternative. That’s what Los Angeles County officials require of people whose jobs put them in regular contact with others, but are exempt from wearing a face mask due to a medical condition.
Experts also warn about using a specific type of N95 mask that has a vent that allows a person’s breathing to focus when they escape.
N95 non-medical masks have a valve that allows germs to escape.
(Photo illustration courtesy of Brenton Simpson)
Those masks are meant to protect the person who wears them, like construction workers who want to avoid breathing dust, but they are terrible in a pandemic because they channel a person’s potentially infectious breath outward.
To convert N95 masks that have ventilation holes in the front, simply put a piece of tape over the external ventilation to cover it, health experts said.
