Why You Will be Wearing a Mask For Months
It may not be why you think
During the past few days, stories in the mainstream media have been trickling out that the Coronavirus Task Force is about to recommend what some of us already knew. They will soon recommend that we all wear masks in public. Why?
There are good reasons why experts have been downplaying the importance of healthy civilians wearing masks up until now and there are good reasons they are recommending masks now. Let’s look at why healthy Americans are being advised to wear masks now.
Flügge Droplets on The Breeze
In 1899, when Carl Flügge, who was working with tuberculosis, malaria, and other infectious diseases, developed the droplet theory of infection. He demonstrated that even in quiet conversation, minute droplets (Flügge droplets) are sprayed in the air. At that time, masks were simply a roller gauze strip covering the mouth. Since then, masks have prevented microbes from being passed from one airway to another.The fact is simple: Masks prevent pathogens from moving from one person to another. This is nothing new.
Since we have been under “stay at home” orders, a new lifestyle is emerging. We are coming to some new realizations, including the revelation that we cannot survive indoors forever. In fact, we need to get outside and walk, play, run, ride, enjoy nature, and forage for food. Never have I seen so many people outside in our greenway areas walking, playing, running, enjoying nature, and foraging for food, mostly 6 feet apart. But sadly, 6 feet apart is not enough.
Do you ever notice, especially lately, when you pass by others on a breezy day, even 6 feet apart, you catch a whiff of someone’s fragrance, be it cologne, smoke, mildewy clothing, or other personal olfactory signature? I do. And if you do, you are actually inhaling minute particles that impart that odor. These particles could be exhaled air, spores, esters, or even Flügge droplets. Not to mention the transmission from talking, as Flügge did, or God forbid, sneezing, coughing, or other expectoration. And by the way, a cough or a sneeze aerosol droplet can travel up to 25 feet, and that is not wind-aided.
The fact is, yes, if you are infectious a mask will slow the transmission of particles from your body to others. And that is important, considering the fact that you can be sick and infectious for up to four days without knowing it. And new estimates show that 25% to 50% of coronavirus carriers don’t even feel sick and can infect others blindly and not even know it.
But the mask will also screen you from inhaling viruses from others. Yes, some of the viruses from another’s breath may get carried off or miss the target of your mouth, nose, or eyes. But if you wear a mask your are lowering the risk that you will be infected. That’s why doctors and nurses wear masks when they are around Covid patients. That’s why masks are critical for them, since they are on the front lines.
So why have we been told not to use masks unless we were sick? Why were we told that masks would not protect us?
The Great Fear
First, and most important, there was a shortage of masks, especially masks for medical practitioners on the front lines. Nothing would be worse than knowing a tidal wave of very sick, infectious people are coming, which will result in a shortage of hospitals, rooms, beds, ventilators, medicine, staff, and most crucial of all, protective masks to protect health care workers who are exposed and face to face with the virus. Doctors are even facing scrutiny for wearing masks when they are not in the presence of Coronavirus patients. There simply aren’t enough masks to go around for our overworked medical staff, say nothing about for the rest of us. Let alone with the probability of the mask supply going the same route as toilet paper; that is, hoarding, and vanishing into thin air.
Another reason healthy people have been told not to wear masks is that many people don’t know how to use them. As a woodworker who uses a face mask on a regular basis, I can tell you that unless the mask is skin tight, including clamped down over the nose, air (and dust) will enter and leave around the mask, making it superfluous. The mask is only as useful as the way it is fitted.
If those reasons aren’t enough, if one wears a mask for any length of time, water vapor in your exhaled breath, collects and makes the interior of the mask wet. This not only makes it yucky but also renders nonfunctional as well. This is why doctors and nurses need a supply of masks, since they are not easily cleaned, sanitized, and still effective.
What Has Changed?
Since the Commander-in-Chief used the Defense Act to compel the manufacture of medical supplies, more masks are in the pipeline to our healthcare workers. Other countries such as Taiwan, that have aggressively fought the virus and won round one are sending millions of masks to the U.S. and other countries. And, finally, the experts admit, the protection of even a makeshift mask is better than none.
Also, with new projections that we will likely see hundreds of thousands, and perhaps a million deaths in the U.S., there is a realization that we need to do everything we can to slow the spread of the virus down.
So the word is out that it’s time to wear masks. Everywhere. Even makeshift masks will do. Got a clean bandana? A spare T shirt? We’re not in Kansas anymore. See you at the bank.
