- N95 masks or surgical masks have proven to be especially effective.
- surgical masks are 95% effective at filtering out COVID-19 virus particles, compared to just 37% for cloth masks.
- masks help prevent the transmission of airborne viruses by providing a barrier that traps or contains diseases and bacteria that commonly spread through small respiratory droplets.
The subject of masks has arisen time and again, and multiple doctors have acknowledged the missteps and bungled messaging regarding face masks, particularly during the early stages of the pandemic. masks remain a vital layer of protection in the fight against COVID-19, reports Deseret.
About the study
Various studies report different degrees of protection depending on how they were conducted and how data was collected, but a recent meta-analysis of multiple global studies found that masks are linked to a commanding 53% decrease in COVID-19 transmission when worn properly.
An Arizona epidemiologist recently told me how N95 masks or surgical masks have proven to be especially effective. “Several studies have found that surgical masks are between 66% and 70% effective,” she said.
Anyone doubting whether masks work needs only look at how airborne diseases decrease in areas with high mask compliance.
For instance, in the winter of 2020/2021, when most Utahns were still wearing masks while shopping and at work, church, and school, the Salt Lake City hospital reported virtually zero flu or RSV hospitalizations. Airborne illnesses were at an all-time low across hospitals throughout the state at the time.
More recently, one study found that communities with mask mandates had lower hospitalization rates than areas where masks weren’t required.
And even though masks are nowhere near 100% effective, experts consider some protection better than none.
One pediatrician shared the following analogy last year: “You can’t tell me that every anti-masker we know wouldn’t change their tune about masks not providing ‘perfect protection’ if we showed the fallacy of that logic when applied to other things.”
Better masks for the new variant
Cloth masks are certainly better than no mask, but upgrading makes sense when better options are readily available. Surgical masks, for instance, are made up of more layers of protection than cloth masks.
Researchers at Stanford and Yale contributed to a study last year that found that surgical masks are 95% effective at filtering out COVID-19 virus particles, compared to just 37% for cloth masks.
Unlike cloth masks, surgical masks are made from a non-woven plastic material called polypropylene that holds an electrostatic charge intended to contain air droplets that prevent the wearer from inhaling them.
N95 and KN95 masks have the same electrostatic advantage, but they’re made up of even more layers of protection and have the advantage of also fitting more snugly to one’s face.
Cloth and surgical masks tend to fit loosely, leaving gaps around the cheeks and nose which has been shown to make a big difference.
Upgrading one’s mask is especially important in the face of omicron. Early research suggests that omicron multiplies 70 times faster in the bronchial tract than previous iterations of the virus.
How masks work and the importance of masking up?
Put simply, masks help prevent the transmission of airborne viruses by providing a barrier that traps or contains diseases and bacteria that commonly spread through small respiratory droplets.
Such droplets are expelled when someone with an airborne illness coughs, sneezes, shouts, laughs, talks or exhales in some other way. Each droplet (or floating air particle) becomes an infectious vehicle that can linger in the air, travel along air currents, and adhere to surfaces, where they eventually may be inhaled by someone else.
COVID-19 is also known to be spread through airborne transmission, “so anything that gets in the way of the virus distributing through the air in high enough concentrations to get nearby people sick is going to be key in preventing spread,” a Colorado-based epidemiologist recently told me.
The one piece of information that changed in 2021 regarding face masks was relaxed guidance about masking up outdoors. “Masks may not be necessary when you and the person you are caring for are outside and away from others,” the CDC now recommends. Crowded sporting events and concerts are still the exceptions where higher-risk individuals (and those nearby) should still consider wearing them.
But experts remain unified in recommending mask use when using public transit and in indoor settings where social distancing isn’t practical and airflow may be stagnant. Most experts also recommend masking up in small groups indoors unless everyone present is known to be vaccinated and boosted.
One should also exercise more caution if you live in an area that’s experiencing a surge of new cases. NPR has a handy tool to check transmission levels near you.
Masks work best when the majority of people in a room are wearing one because when an infected person wears a mask, a large percentage of their exhaled infectious particles are captured in the material immediately in front of their mouth and nose, which stops viral spread at the source.
But evidence suggests that masks protect the wearer even when others remain mask-free.
But the amount of time to become infected increased to 20 minutes when the uninfected person wore a cloth mask, to 30 minutes when wearing a surgical mask, and to 2.5 hours when wearing an N95 mask.
Effectiveness of wearing masks on children
Children often have lower levels of tolerance and depend especially on facial expressions and other nonverbal forms of communication as part of their development and while learning in various settings.
Some experts have also expressed concern that young children, in particular, may begin mouth breathing if they wear a face-covering too often, the detriments thereof having been well-documented.
What’s more, the CDC published a study last May that cast doubt on whether requiring children to wear a face-covering in the classroom has a statistically significant benefit.As such, masking young children in the classroom is a more complicated question. Indeed, the World Health Organization specifically advises against masking children 5 and under.
That said, WHO does recommend children 12 and up to wear face coverings under the same circumstances as adults, and the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatric guidelines still encourage that “anyone over the age of 2, regardless of vaccination status, wear a well-fitting face mask when in public” — at least through the 2021-22 school year.
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Source: Deseret
