Advice on mask-wearing to protect against Covid-19

[Jonathan Edwards]

Why is it that the masks keep virus in but don't keep it out?

They probably do both reasonably well but as you say the relative effect on transmission is likely tone complicated. Virus only gets out one way - breathing out air. It cannot in from breathing in or touching your face with a contaminate hand and so on.

 

[Mij]

I am going out grocery shopping this week and plan to wear a mask for the first time. I only have N95 masks that I obtained a few years ago and now feel uncomfortable wearing it. I hope no one judges me, or thinks that I hoarded masks and took them away from healthcare providers.

 

[Leila]

I am going out grocery shopping this week and plan to wear a mask for the first time. I only have N95 masks that I obtained a few years ago and now feel uncomfortable wearing it. I hope no one judges me, or thinks that I hoarded masks and took them away from healthcare providers.

Protecting yourself and others is a responsible thing to do. Using the N95 means you're less likely to end up in a hospital or exacerbate ME and later need more care.

 

[Simbindi]

I am going out grocery shopping this week and plan to wear a mask for the first time. I only have N95 masks that I obtained a few years ago and now feel uncomfortable wearing it. I hope no one judges me, or thinks that I hoarded masks and took them away from healthcare providers.

It's probably no longer usable as medical level PPE due to the date of manufacture. Maybe write the expiry date on it with a permanent pen so that others can see that.

 

[Mij]

It's probably no longer usable as medical level PPE due to the date of manufacture. Maybe write the expiry date on it with a permanent pen so that others can see that.

I've decided to wear a small silk scarf to cover it.

 

[Sasha]

Why is it that the masks keep virus in but don't keep it out? Is it because it's easier to catch most droplets of whatever size if you're covering up a point-source, but that if virus is in the air it will get into your mouth via the gaps in the home-made mask?

I just heard the founder of 'Masks for All' on R4 explain this. It's because as breath leaves your mouth it's in the form of relatively large droplets and the mask can catch those. But without any restriction, those droplets get much smaller the further they get from your mouth (or the virus drops out of them or something, didn't quite catch what he said) and so they can penetrate the masks of bystanders.

It really is about us all protecting each other, not ourselves.

He said he and colleagues just published a paper on this today but I haven't been able to find it.

Can anyone else? I'd like to see it.

 

[Jonathan Edwards]

Excellent presentation on wearing homemade masks on UK Radio 4 at 5.30ish. Seems all sewn up. @Keela Too gets the Nobel Prize. Now to wait for the government to take note.

I have perfected a response to p[eople who loudly hail 'Good Morning' on the path and when I do not reply shout it again as if I was being rude:

Better not to shout
It lets the virus out.

The response tends to be seething and contempt for this poor guy wearing a seersucker face cover. But I enjoy it.

Edit: Sasha beat me to it.

 

[Sasha]

Excellent presentation on wearing homemade masks on UK Radio 4 at 5.30ish.

Did you catch the guy's name, Jo? I'd like to track down the paper that he mentioned.

 

[Jonathan Edwards]

It isn't Heyman - he is an official advisor. I think it might be Stuart?

 

[Jonathan Edwards]

He is called Jeremy Howard @Sasha - works in San Francisco.

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...sk-may-be-our-best-weapon-to-stop-coronavirus

 

[TigerLilea]

I am going out grocery shopping this week and plan to wear a mask for the first time. I only have N95 masks that I obtained a few years ago and now feel uncomfortable wearing it. I hope no one judges me, or thinks that I hoarded masks and took them away from healthcare providers.

I have a couple of N95 masks that I purchased several years ago for when I'm sanding or shredding paper. As I have medical appointments that I must go to, I'm not worrying about other people judging me when I wear a mask. Some people have nothing better to do with their time and that is their problem - not mine.

 

[FMMM1]

I just heard the founder of 'Masks for All' on R4 explain this. It's because as breath leaves your mouth it's in the form of relatively large droplets and the mask can catch those. But without any restriction, those droplets get much smaller the further they get from your mouth (or the virus drops out of them or something, didn't quite catch what he said) and so they can penetrate the masks of bystanders.

It really is about us all protecting each other, not ourselves.

He said he and colleagues just published a paper on this today but I haven't been able to find it.

Can anyone else? I'd like to see it.

There's a reference to a paper in this snippet on Radio 4 (but not the one your referring to I guess) "More or Less" ---
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000h6cb
18 minutes to 19 but check out other bits on masks --- from 14 minutes

Seems like @Keela Too was way ahead of the game --- vacuum cleaner bags!

Anyone got a link to the Radio 4 program?

 

[Ebb Tide]

BBC R4 PM, should be about an hour from the start which was 4.30pm

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000h8gw

 

[Jonathan Edwards]

5.32pm

 

[Yessica]

Help please, question about the non-PPE face masks. I'm in a situation where I'm most iikely going to be exposed to coronavirus.

I'm confused about this, I've read some studies that seem to say the non-PPE masks keep out a good portion of what's breathed in and others that say it's very minimal. I understand the protection for others with it.

A little about the situation I'm in and a question at the end. Thank you if you can enlighten me more on non-PPE mask for my protection.

I live in a private small room in a large building, everything else is shared.

I'm scared every time I leave my room. Many of the residents don't take this seriously at all and others not as seriously as is called for. Also several aren't good about covering their mouths when coughing and such. Needing to protect myself esp with airborne in the elevator and kitchen.

They are also bus riders, so they are exposed to everyone on the bus and we have a huge homeless population here that rides the bus and aren't or aren't able to take extra precautions to protect themselves from possible exposure to coronavirus which adds to this.

I'm bed bound except for daily I have to walk two long halls, to ride an elevator downstairs to sit in a chair in the communal kitchen and wait for the slow water cooler to fill up my gallon of water. Also have to go down for packages and delivery tooo. And the restrooms are communal.

I don't have the health to be able to make or to search for face masks and I'm so full of complications and ability with regards to washing them. N95's if I could get them can't wear due to a couple of loose teeth. Delivered water doesn't work.

With all the above in mind, is it worth my while to crash myself even harder, esp as I'm losing weight that I can't afford to loose and struggling just to get food I can eat, to try to somehow make non-PPE masks happen for me?

 

[Jonathan Edwards]

With all the above in mind, is it worth my while to crash myself even harder, esp as I'm losing weight that I can't afford to loose and struggling just to get food I can eat, to try to somehow make non-PPE masks happen for me?

I would find something really simple to tie around the lower half of your face. A light neckerchief or something like that might do very well. Folded in a triangle and tied at the back like a bandit would be what I would do. If you are careful about touching surfaces and washing hands my guess is that you would be quite well protected.

 

[Mij]

@Yessica check out DR. Sanjay Gupta's home made mask:

 

[Sean]

 

[Adrian]

This looks like a good article on the advantages of wearing masks and how it affects R0. It goes through the different bits of evidence.
https://www.fast.ai/2020/04/13/masks-summary/

Conclusion
Whilst not every piece of scientific evidence supports mask-wearing, most of it points in the same direction. Our assessment of this evidence leads us to a clear conclusion: keep your droplets to yourself – wear a mask.

You can make one at home, from a t-shirt, handkerchief, or paper towel, or even just wrap a scarf or bandana around your face. Ideally, use tightly woven fabric that you can still breathe through. Researchers recommend including a layer of paper towel as a disposable filter; you can simply slide it between two layers of cloth. There is no evidence that your mask needs to be made with any particular expertise or care to be effective for source control. You can put a cloth mask in the laundry and reuse it, just like you re-use a t-shirt.

If it turns out that you’re incubating COVID-19, the people you care about will be glad you wore a mask.

 

[Sean]

From that excellent article:

Some have claimed that making (or strongly encouraging) people to wear masks will encourage risky behavior... (...) However, real-world research on these topics found that even though some individuals responded with risky behavior, at a population level there was an overall improvement in safety and well-being (Peng et al. 2017; Houston and Richardson 2007).

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, behaviourists.