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The debate heats up especially when you remember that even at the start of the pandemic, healthcare professionals urged not to buy masks because they claimed they would not protect against infection, and why have they become so important now?
Professor Mindaugas Stankūnas of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU) reminds the public of the importance of wearing masks and advises not to forget them even when they are no longer mandatory.
“At the start of the pandemic (February-March), the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control (USA) And many experts insisted that medical masks do not protect against the coronavirus and are not recommended its use. <...> However, the use of masks or other face masks has now become mandatory and even non-compliance is subject to fines. So what happened here? – write on the social network LSMU prof. M. Stankūnas.
– It must be said that the masks themselves have not changed. However, its intended use has changed. At the start of the pandemic, people rushed to buy masks because they believed it would help protect them from infection. Here, however, its effectiveness is low. As the number of cases began to grow and all people began to see themselves as potential carriers of the infection, so did the recommendations for masks. The main purpose of these or other face shields is not to protect you from the virus, but to prevent the possible transmission of your portable virus to other people.
In other words, if you are sitting in a mask and an infected person sitting next to you is crying “from the heart,” your mask will not protect you from such “virus rain.” However, if you and your interlocutor wear the mask, the chances of becoming infected do not disappear, but are significantly reduced. ”
As the scientist says, if we all use the masks carefully, the overall effect will be very large.
“This is well illustrated by a summary article (true, peer-reviewed) by a group of researchers showing the relationship between mask wear and virus size (R0). Assuming that SARS-CoV-2 R0 = 2.4, then if the masks are used at least 50 percent, the efficiencies of the population and the mask will reach 50 percent, this value will drop to 1.35. (See attached diagram.) This means that in the first case, out of 100 infected at the beginning of the month, this number will increase to 31,280 in the next 30 days, in the second case, only 584. The difference is great, isn’t it? ”writes Professor M. Stankūnas.
According to the LSMU researcher, he positively evaluates the conditions to relieve quarantine, but recommends not rushing to use nasal and oral covers.
On Wednesday, although the Prime Minister approved the lifting of the obligation to wear masks, Saulius Skverner still recommends wearing masks.
“The government has made some adjustments for the use of a protective device in open public places. This becomes a recommendation, except for other dangerous places: in terms of foreign trade, markets, public transport stops, all closed public spaces, masks should be used, “said the Prime Minister.
But S. Skvernel urged to wear masks anyway. “After moving into partial recommendation mode, I want to urge Lithuanians who walk, rest, and work on the streets for labor reasons to use those tools. Where we have no contact with people, they are not necessary. (…) While this is becoming a recommendation in some places, it is suggested to follow it. This would reduce the risk, ”said S. Skvernelis.
Delphi remember that the quarantine in Lithuania has been extended until May 31, it is likely to be extended again.
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