This is not a manifesto or even an argument, really. It is, hopefully, a beginning understanding of the rationale for why wearing a mask – in this moment and during a pandemic unlike any other we’ve seen for 100 years – may help reduce suffering and remove further restrictions in our future daily lives.
So many people have resisted the plea / recommendation to wear masks. I feel compelled to both acknowledge their arguments and disagree with their rationale. And, while I understand that we live in a ‘free’ and democratic society (North America: Canada and the United States primarily), the very basis of the essential social contract we embrace is that we are free to live our lives as we wish so long as our choices do not infringe upon others’.
I wear a mask in public spaces and when around people I am unrelated to not only to protect myself, but to protect them from the significant potential risk I pose to them for transmitting COVID-19. The evidence I’ve read (see below) and the sources I trust as an intelligent and [reasonably] well-educated adult are clear: by wearing a mask I am less of a risk to those around me and can contribute to the exponential decay of infectious spread within my community. This is important because I also choose to enter public spaces shared by others and engage in social activities where I could be a risk to others – both those that I love and care for closely all the way through the spectrum of those I may not know personally or associate with other than being in certain spaces with them at a given time.
The bottom line is: I wear a mask because I care about the impact I [may] have on others. And, while my rationale or execution may not be perfect, it is well-reaasoned and considered.
You don’t have to agree with me, but if you engage here, or on social media generally with me, please understand that there are ground rules and expectations for doing so. This is not your platform, it is mine. I reserve all rights to respond or not and to remove posts that appear to only provoke or prostheletize.
** The list below may be edited or updated in the weeks (or months) to follow. Notes will be added as well to memorialize changes.
Current Resources and research on the effectiveness of social distancing practices, and particularly wearing masks:
AAMC Guidance on Wearing Masks and Psychology Behind Masking July 30, 2020
Mounting scientific research shows that widespread wearing of masks, along with practicing social distancing and frequent hand-washing, would greatly reduce community transmission of the virus. The disconnect between the guidance and the practice is further exacerbated by conflicting messaging and misinformation around masking.
AAMCNews asked four experts about different aspects of masking that can help inform the medical community and make them more prepared to set a good example and communicate effectively with their patients, peers, and loved ones about wearing a mask.
UCSF News 06.26.2020
**** A lay explanation – with clear statements from UCSF Medical doctors (epidemiologist & infectious disease specialist) as to the effects & impacts of wearing masks ****
We talked to UC San Francisco epidemiologist George Rutherford, MD, and infectious disease specialist Peter Chin-Hong, MD, about the CDC’s reversal on mask-wearing, the current science on how masks work, and what to consider when choosing a mask.
NPR Health Shots
07.23.2020
Can Masks Save Us From More Lockdowns? Here’s What the Science Says
… Now prominent scientists are proposing a radical — and hopeful — possibility: Even as coronavirus cases spiral upward across the United States to levels surpassing this spring’s surge, these experts argue that if Americans start wearing masks en masse, the U.S. may yet avoid a return to lockdown measures. It seems obvious that masks would reduce the spread of a respiratory bug like the coronavirus to at least some degree. After all, when a healthy person wears a mask, the barrier filters out some airborne droplets containing the virus. Even more importantly, when a sick person wears a mask, the barrier holds in many of the viral droplets they exhale. But quantifying the magnitude of this effect on an entire population is more complicated.
There are reams of studies using a range of methods to determine how much mask wearing curbs transmission. Many compare what has happened in places where most people have used masks with what has happened in settings where most have not….
But if you curb the transmission rate by 30%, this means that instead of infecting 1.03 others, each infected person passes the virus on to only 0.72 others. So now 100 infected people go on to infect only 72 people. These 72 go on to infect just 52 people in the next cycle. By the seventh cycle, only 10 new people are infected, and only a total of 332 people have contracted the virus altogether. Essentially, instead of exponential growth you’ve triggered what’s called exponential decay.
Wear a cloth mask with three layers
Price and Chu say that their research shows masks are most effective at keeping the wearer from infecting others when they have a water-resistant outer layer, such as cotton mixed with polyester, nylon, or rayon; an inner layer of polypropylene or two layers of facial tissue, which can be replaced after each use; and an absorbent inner layer, such as 100% cotton.
Universal use of face masks for success against COVID-19: evidence and implications for prevention policies
Eur Respir J. 2020 Jun; 55(6): 2001260.
Published online 2020 Jun 18.
Susanna Esposito,1 Nicola Principi,2 Chi Chi Leung,3 and Giovanni Battista Migliori4
doi: 10.1183/13993003.01260-2020PMCID: PMC7191114PMID: 32350103https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7191114/
To shed light on this important topic, we reviewed relevant literature, focusing on … keywords …. [I]n blanket testing of an isolated village of ∼3000 people in northern Italy, 50–75% of people with positive pharyngeal molecular tests were totally asymptomatic [1]. This finding was echoed by a more recent daily surveillance report from China, Journal of Hospital Infections06.12.2020Face masks and Containment of COVID-19: experience from South Koreahttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7291980/ There are several reasons why wearing a face mask has been well accepted by the public in South Korea. In 2015, there was an outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, with 186 cases and 38 fatalities in South Korea. The epidemic lasted for 2 months and the Government of South Korea quarantined 16,993 individuals [5]. The MERS-CoV outbreak strengthened public acceptance of wearing a face mask in the event of the unexpected threat of respiratory viral infections.
[end as of 08.16.2020]
Stories from the Edge 