Do Masks Work?

 

In the age of Covid, it is impossible to escape ubiquitous 'mask up' message. Irrespective of the medium is there are, from politician to film star, ordering you, begging you, and urging you to ‘MASK UP’. 

If you do not, you are the epitome of selfishness, apathetic towards well-being of others and yourself, which makes you rotten to the core.

So do masks really protect us and others?

During my recent trips to the market, I happened to visit a departmental store that I frequent. Strangely the surrounding was inundated were intense odour of what seemed like an inexpensive perfume. Upon inquiry, the purveyor of the establishment informed me that he had accidentally broken a few bottles of cologne.

But I had masked up, yet the scent passed through my nasal cavities. I wondered if odour could pass, could the Covid19 virus is prevented.

After a bit of research I discovered that the diameter of the Covid19 virus can range between 0.02 micrometres to as large as 0.5 micrometres. While perfume droplets that vary in size between 30 and 100 micrometres in diameter. Particles with a diameter of 10 micrometres or greater generally do not get much beyond the nose and nasal cavity immediately behind it.

Which means that perfume or any other aroma particle approximately 100 times wider in diameter than a Covid Virus particle.

What does that say about the mask?

Wearing Masks

But within ten minutes of wearing a mask, you often feel suffocated, within thirty minutes it is almost impossible. If you are one who is involved in extreme physical work, it is impossible within minutes.

You either lower your mask or adjust it such that the air can pass through, the moment you do that, the purpose is defeated.

Also important is the type of mask you wear, just slapping a piece of muslin cloth on your face is not going to help at all. A simple test is that mask should block light when held up to a bright source

What a recent study has discovered

A recent large-scale Danish study found no evidence that wearing a face mask minimizes people’s risk of contracting Covid19. The randomized-control trial found no statistically significant difference in coronavirus infection rates between mask-wearers and non-mask-wearers.

This clinical trial was conducted from April through June in Denmark, a largely unmasked area with government recommendations only to social distance and wash hands frequently as the country began to reopen in May. Roughly half of the 6,024 participants, 4,862 of whom completed the study, were randomly assigned to wear surgical masks “outside the home among other persons together” while the other half continued to operate in public without a mask.

After a month, 42 of the mask-wearers in the study (1.8 percent) were infected with the virus while 53 of the non-mask-wearers (2.1. percent) were infected with the virus. Statistically, this is not a significant difference between the two groups, suggesting these infection differences were a product of chance, say the study authors.

Some have noted Denmark’s population at the time of the study was less than 2 percent infected, participants were in charge of reporting their own COVID-19 tests, and other limitations.

So does what does that tell us about masks?

Dr. Christine Laine, editor-in-chief of the Annals of Internal Medicine, where the study is published, told The New York Times the research shows masks “are not a magic bullet.”

But the larger purpose seems to make a display of concern. The discomfort gives you the good feeling that you are doing your bit in combating Covid19. It is about emotions.

Does that mean you stop wearing masks?

Emphatically not. If there is even a minutest of minute smidgen of a chance of reduction of the possibility of infection or the inhalation of severely polluted air you just wear it.

The mask is also effective in concealing your face to avoid unwanted social interactions, add a cap and dark glasses and your disguise is complete.

But there is no substitute for staying indoors as much as you possibly can and social distancing. A warm shower with disinfectant soap upon stepping indoors and avoiding contact with humans from the outside world.

The question remains how many among can afford to function like that!