I am writing this because many people it seems are not clear on why face coverings are being made a legal requirement. If you want the headline then here it is - if you want more detail please read on.:
Face coverings and masks almost certainly help reduce the spread of COVID-19 (and other airborne viruses) but they only give limited protection to the person wearing the mask or covering.
Here is some useful info from the US CDC
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cloth-face-cover.html
This is what the UK government tells you (Clear as to what you should do but suitably vague as to why!)
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/staying-safe-outside-your-home/staying-safe-outside-your-home
As you read this please remember:
- COVID-19 is an Airborne Virus - that is to say, although it can be transmitted by touch the most dangerous and rapid transmission it has shown is because it travels in aerosol droplets which hover in the air for several minutes and via heavier droplets or gobbets of saliva which land on people from a cough or sneeze
- Having said that remember where your hands have been - have you touched your face/eyes/mouth or the outside of your mask? Or held a handle someone else has been touching?
- You can have no symptoms and still be highly infectious
- People with symptoms are also infectious
- Some people will only have mild symptoms or no symptoms but still have and be spreading COVID-19
- COVID-19 will, if like other similar viruses, deactivate within minutes of landing on cloth (the moisture it relies on gets absorbed into the cloth and all indications are that it requires the water to survive outside your body
- We don't have all the facts from studies yet so let us be cautious
After you read the rest of this post I hope you will take away the following tips:
- Face masks & coverings protect other people when you have symptoms
- Face masks & coverings may make you feel safer but they only give you limited protection in the case where someone breaths heavily or coughs/sneezed directly in your face
- Don't jog or bicycle right behind people even if they wear masks
- Masks are less important outside if you aren't going to be within 6 meters of people and if you do go withing 6 meters hold your breath until you pass
- Masks should be mandatory when you are indoors with strangers, colleagues or customers (not just)
- Avoid standing behind people with face masks
- Scarfs may actually be better than facemasks at protecting others
- If out and about and likely to be touching things other people have, carry sanitiser or sanitising wipes.
- Be careful removing your mask.
- If you have COVID-19 symptoms please don't go out wearing a mask thinking you are not going to infect people. If you have to for a critical health/safety-related reason a scarf may well be better but if possible use a respirator mask (note you don't need eye-coverings since you are protecting other people)
- Some people ask why the government isn't making it clear to people that masks are mainly about reducing spread by stopping the wearer spreading the virus. Well I can only guess but if I'm feeling generous I'd say they are hoping that if people believe they are protecting themselves they are more likely to wear them. Unfortunately, this has backfired in some cases as I hear people say (even in shops) - "Oh I'm bound to get it at some point, so I'll take the risk", "the horse has bolted" etc. perhaps not realising that they are significantly protecting customers in the case they have it but don't yet know.
- Some might say "If I'm at risk then I won't bother wearing a mask because it doesn't protect me much". While it's true it doesn't prevent aerosol inhalation some protection is better than none and it might trap that big glob of saliva with 100 billion virus particles in it that would have landed on your lips! That Might be the difference between mild symptoms on a worse case.
Here is a summary of what I believe various face coverings will do to help protect you and others (this is my OWN summary and is not the result of any study as there aren't any comprehensive ones around mask types like all of these):
Here is the more detailed info about why I believe the above statements are almost certainly correct.
General article from Cambridge University about helping prevent the spread:
https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/widespread-facemask-use-could-shrink-the-r-number-and-prevent-a-second-covid-19-wave-study
Royal Society Modelling study about why masks prevent the spread (and importantly might prevent larger particles with higher Covid "Doses" (Viral load in your infection will be reduced)):
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspa.2020.0376
Study showing cloth / surgical masks don't filter and it is probably the leakage around the edge of teh masks that causes MORE virus particles on the outside of the mack than in the inside when a wearer coughs.
https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-1342
Article showing how difficult this all is:
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/06/controversy-covid-19-mask-study-spotlights-messiness-science-during
