Firstly I hope you are all safe and well and I wish you all a million blessings.
I'm no expert by any stretch when it comes to infectious viruses but after reading about various countries and how they are dealing with this crisis I have a very simple question , Why aren't we all made to wear masks while out in public ? Surely if we made it mandatory to wear some form of breathing apparatus while out in public it would be better than wearing nothing at all ? . The experts say that many would have no idea that they have the virus so how many people have been infected by someone who had no idea they were infected ?
All the Asian countries seem to have their populations wear masks and don't have the the same issues as the rest , now I could be 1000% wrong but I can't believe that if we all had been made to wear masks while out in public that things would be bit better than the current situation .
I spent a few hours on the phone last night to a cousin of mine in Italy and he explained to me why they are going though such hell .
1. Italy have more than 3 million Italians who travel back and forth from China each year because there are 100s of Italian companies based in the north of Italy who have factories and facilities in china .
2. Because the bat eating grubs in china purposely kept the virus hush god knows how many Italians came back to Italy between November and mid February infected with the Coronavirus totally oblivious to it .
3. A long held custom in Italy is to greet each other with a kiss on both cheeks , it is also a custom in Spain and France who are also in chaos so it's easy to see how and why it spread so fast in north Italy .
Replies
Apparently the the mask is only to stop you touching your mouth and nose. If you touch something, like a door handle for instance, that has the virus on it then you touch your mouth/nose infecting yourelf. It is almost impossible to breath the virus in unless someone coughs or sneezes directly into your face. that's my understanding of it but i'm sure someone else would have heard something different.
Masks would be good. The virus is more airborne than they are letting on IMO. Good luck getting one, but also medical workers deserve one well ahead of me.
https://eur05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fw...I hope your cousins are safe Fong. Here is another thought about how the virus spread so quickly. It has been traced back to a football match that is considered to be "ground zero". It all spread from there. The Italians and Spanish are all loving people who hug and kiss and keep their elderly relatives all under the same roof to take care of them. It's a beautiful culture but ideal for this virus
https://eur05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fw...
Hi Fong
1. The virus is smaller than the holes in the mask
2. The virus is not floating free but on aerosols - tiny water droplets from an infected persons breathing/coughing/sneezing. The aerosols are bigger than the holes in the mask.
3. Unless you have a tight fitting P2 rated mask then there are gaps at the side of the mask that are bigger than the aerosols, which make non-P2 masks useless.
4. Even with a P2 mask, the aerosols absorb on the surface and your constant breathing in and out eventually sucks the virus in from the outside or pushes it out if you are infected.
Therefore non-P2 rated masks are not considered useful.
P2 rated masks are only useful for 15 minutes in infected air and then need to be replaced
If you are outside you are 20x less likely to get infected. For most infective organisms (not all but probably coronavirus) you need a significant viral load to get infected. Outside infected air quickly gets diluted with the air currents and large volume. In a small closed room or recycled airconditioning it accumulates.
Actually, the theoretical minimum viral load needed for any virus is one, however for COVID-19 its thought to be about 500-1000 particles, which is bugger all. Less than one sneeze's worth.
The viral load in respiratory secretions for people with severe MERS viral infections is only 10,000 per ml. MERS is the same species of coronavirus as COVID19. The volume of aerosols from a sneeze I am guessing is much less than a ml. So there may not be as much viral load in a sneeze as you or at least I would have thought. One infective particle or even 100 are rarely enough to cause an infection in practice. If it is 1000 for COVID then while believable it is definitely on the low side
LIke I said, the "theoretical" minimum is one viral particle, as opposed to the minimum infectious load for bacteria which more often than not needs to be upwards of 10,000 bacterial cells.
Fong, there is a Korean medical professor who attributes Korea having a very low death rate to the fact that most Koreans wear masks when in public. Any mask is beneficial but N95/P2 grade masks, like the ones doctors use make it very difficult for the virus to pass through.
The reason Australia was advised not to hoard masks was to ensure that medical staff had enough in hospitals.
Masks save lives, its been proven.
Where has it been proven? There is a thought that wearing a mask for a long time can lead to rebreathing of infected air and it makes matters worse. Even N95-P2 masks are not made for virus travelling on aerosols. They are made for industry and dry particles. These masks are useful for when you have a short interaction with someone you think may be infected and then removing when you leave the room. As explained above there is no need outside unless you are standing close to someone for more than a few seconds. They will not help you if you stand in the same room as an infected person for more than 15 minutes. There is a lot of irrational use of masks around. If you want to do it properly get a proper hazmat mask that is designed for airborne viruses and not a N95 P2 mask designed for dry particles from industry or a surgical mask that is not an effective barrier due to side gaps
I live and work in Korea in impex.
Wearing masks is second nature even before COVID-19 due to fine dust. Masks, social distancing, coughing/sneezing etiquette, frequent hand washing and hand sanitization were PSA'd from nearly day one.
We have now been inundated with interest to supply surgical masks, dental masks, N95/KN95 rated masks and hand sanitizer to Europe and the US. Coincidence?
Prevention (or anything) is better than nothing.
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