Why is leaving the nose uncovered for nothing?

DETROIT – What is the correct way to wear a mask to prevent the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19)? Many people wear it under the nose, but does that frustrate the purpose of wearing a mask?

While the masks protect the COVID-19 user to some degree, their primary purpose is “source control” or limiting the amount of infectious droplets exiting the user’s respiratory tract, both the mouth and nose.

Most people generally breathe through the nose, and for good reason. People smell through the nose, which heats and humidifies the air we breathe. Noses help filter debris and microorganisms in the air.

Breathing through the nose is also healthier. It naturally improves lung and circulatory function and gives the body a chance to recover some of the heat and moisture that would otherwise exhale into the environment.

Unfortunately, regarding the spread of COVID-19, the nose also seems to have an advantage over the mouth. A recently published study mapped locations in the respiratory tract where the virus invades, replicates, and spreads faster.

The researchers found that the cells that line the nose were significantly more likely to become infected and clear the virus compared to the throat or lungs.

This means that each time a person exhales through the nose, they are likely to generate a higher concentration of aerosol infections than if they were breathing through the mouth.

It also means that in order to prevent the infectious cloud from escaping and infecting other people, it is so important to cover your nose with a mask.

Another interesting thought generated by the study addresses the question of how the SARS-CoV-2 virus even infects people’s lungs to begin with. The researchers suggested, based on their findings, that the virus either does not reach the lungs through the blood or that it runs sequentially down the respiratory tract.

The researchers believe that the virus simply jumps into the lungs from infected nasal secretions that a susceptible person inhales or inhales.