A. To protect us from being infected by others.
B. To protect others from being infected by us.
C. Both A and B
D. Something else.
In the case of A, since more than 99% of the population has either not been infected, or has recovered from the infection, I do not see the reason to fear my neighbors on my daily walks. Most of them look very fit and healthy. In my town of Fairfield there are about 60000 residents. In its weekly update the town informed us that so far 531 of us have tested positive for the coronavirus and 99 have died. Of those who have died 69 were over 80, 15 were between 70 and 79, and 10 were between 60 and 69. About 85% of those who have died were already in nursing homes.
Only 3 deaths were recorded among those under the age of 60. People in this age bracket are the ones I see on my walks. I see youngsters riding their bikes or scooters; middle-agers walking their dogs; and remarkably fit young men and women jogging. They certainly are not sick or coughing.
Still, as a vulnerable Senior I have been confining myself to my home and avoiding contact with others except for my wife. I have also been maintaining safe distance rules. No one else has been in our home for the past three months except the Cable guy who came this week to change the cable box. However, on entering he put booties over his shoes, wore gloves, and a mask.
Nevertheless, even if you are in close contact with an infected person, and even if your mask is the kind that keeps out 95% of the germs, it can still constitute a danger. Most people contact the virus not by breathing it in the air but by touching their mouth, nose or eyes. Actually, the great value of the mask is that it prevents the incessant touching of the face that humans constantly do unwittingly. Here are the thoughts of my scientific advisor on the proper use of the masks.
In the case of B, does the mask prevent us from infecting others? A Yale professor recently wrote,
Like many, the professor believes that millions of us have been infected and even though we have no obvious symptoms, we can spread the virus to others without knowing it. We don’t even have to be coughing out the droplets. Just plain speaking will cover a neighbor’s body from head to foot with the virus that will then manage the journey to their mouths and nasal passages.
According to the professor, we must wear masks to catch the deadly virus before it leaves our bodies. We are to walk around all day with a mask full of droplets of saliva that contain trillions of the coronavirus. However, when we get home and remove the mask we touch it with our fingers and inevitably wind up scratching our noses, rubbing our eyes, or eating something with our fingers.
As mentioned above my wife and I have quarantined for ourselves for three months without a single symptom of the virus. We can’t be asymptomatic since we have not infected each other. I don’t see myself as a danger to anyone. I am not coughing our droplets. If I had such a cough, I think it better to go outside and cough the virus laden droplets out into the sunshine which we now know quickly destroys the coronavirus. I certainly would not want to be coughing into a mask. Of course, if it was a really bad cough I would call my doctor.
Finally, my scientific advisor also tells me that there are potentially harmful side effects from wearing masks. We take in less oxygen than we need, and we retain more of the carbon dioxide that we need to expel from our bodies. I do not understand why people wear masks while outdoors riding their bicycles or exercising. Do they believe that the virus is just floating around in the air? Is this why people wear masks while driving their cars with the windows open?
I do understand that it might be necessary to wear a mask in closed environments like a hospital room but to suggest that the whole population must be masked boggles the mind.
Ultimately, I believe that many people are now wearing masks out of fear, an irrational fear that has been spread to an entire population by the media that has a large stake in continually alarming its viewers and readers.
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In the case of A, since more than 99% of the population has either not been infected, or has recovered from the infection, I do not see the reason to fear my neighbors on my daily walks. Most of them look very fit and healthy. In my town of Fairfield there are about 60000 residents. In its weekly update the town informed us that so far 531 of us have tested positive for the coronavirus and 99 have died. Of those who have died 69 were over 80, 15 were between 70 and 79, and 10 were between 60 and 69. About 85% of those who have died were already in nursing homes.
Only 3 deaths were recorded among those under the age of 60. People in this age bracket are the ones I see on my walks. I see youngsters riding their bikes or scooters; middle-agers walking their dogs; and remarkably fit young men and women jogging. They certainly are not sick or coughing.
Still, as a vulnerable Senior I have been confining myself to my home and avoiding contact with others except for my wife. I have also been maintaining safe distance rules. No one else has been in our home for the past three months except the Cable guy who came this week to change the cable box. However, on entering he put booties over his shoes, wore gloves, and a mask.
Nevertheless, even if you are in close contact with an infected person, and even if your mask is the kind that keeps out 95% of the germs, it can still constitute a danger. Most people contact the virus not by breathing it in the air but by touching their mouth, nose or eyes. Actually, the great value of the mask is that it prevents the incessant touching of the face that humans constantly do unwittingly. Here are the thoughts of my scientific advisor on the proper use of the masks.
I would mention that there is a proper procedure used by doctors and nurses when removing gloves so as to not contaminate themselves. They grab one glove at the wrist and remove it inside out and the do the same with the other. I have not seen anyone in the news show a proper way to remove a mask so as to avoid contamination if the outside of the mask has virus on it. I have watched many people touch the outside of the mask while taking it off. Now just imagine there were contaminated droplets on it and now they touch their itchy nose or eyes or mouth. They could have inadvertently introduced the virus into their body.
In the case of B, does the mask prevent us from infecting others? A Yale professor recently wrote,
The virus-containing droplets that we all emit by simply speaking spread to cover your neighbor’s entire body. Touch your clothing and then your face and the virus makes its way to the wet membranes (eyes, mouth, nose) of your face. Because this virus is so virulent, it doesn’t take much to infect you. This is why clinicians who treat infectious patients wear head to toe protective equipment: hair coverings, masks, face shields, gloves and full length, long sleeve gowns. We can avoid that burden if we all wear masks. The mask you wear traps these droplets at the source before they spread to your neighbor
Like many, the professor believes that millions of us have been infected and even though we have no obvious symptoms, we can spread the virus to others without knowing it. We don’t even have to be coughing out the droplets. Just plain speaking will cover a neighbor’s body from head to foot with the virus that will then manage the journey to their mouths and nasal passages.
According to the professor, we must wear masks to catch the deadly virus before it leaves our bodies. We are to walk around all day with a mask full of droplets of saliva that contain trillions of the coronavirus. However, when we get home and remove the mask we touch it with our fingers and inevitably wind up scratching our noses, rubbing our eyes, or eating something with our fingers.
As mentioned above my wife and I have quarantined for ourselves for three months without a single symptom of the virus. We can’t be asymptomatic since we have not infected each other. I don’t see myself as a danger to anyone. I am not coughing our droplets. If I had such a cough, I think it better to go outside and cough the virus laden droplets out into the sunshine which we now know quickly destroys the coronavirus. I certainly would not want to be coughing into a mask. Of course, if it was a really bad cough I would call my doctor.
Finally, my scientific advisor also tells me that there are potentially harmful side effects from wearing masks. We take in less oxygen than we need, and we retain more of the carbon dioxide that we need to expel from our bodies. I do not understand why people wear masks while outdoors riding their bicycles or exercising. Do they believe that the virus is just floating around in the air? Is this why people wear masks while driving their cars with the windows open?
I do understand that it might be necessary to wear a mask in closed environments like a hospital room but to suggest that the whole population must be masked boggles the mind.
Ultimately, I believe that many people are now wearing masks out of fear, an irrational fear that has been spread to an entire population by the media that has a large stake in continually alarming its viewers and readers.
###
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