7-April-2020
If your government or jurisdiction authority is telling you to wear a mask, then you should. If they are advising you not to wear a mask, then you shouldn’t. Just listen and follow instructions, it shouldn’t be hard. What’s harder in this instance is determining whether there are concrete scientific proofs and evidences, that definitely suggest mask wearing will stop you from catching the (current) SARS-CoV-2 virus. Simply, there has not been enough time elapsed since the outbreak, for studies to be undertaken and to demonstrate one outcome or the other. In short, a lot of the literature (published) are still subjected to debate and conjecture.
Before reading further, please be aware Yours Truly is not a health or a scientific professional. He knows nothing and therefore this should not be counted on as advice or what to do – so please listen to the advice of your respective governments. Anyway, consider this piece as a demonstration of the average person’s understanding and psyche of the mask situation.
Wearing masks is not new, just as people have worn clothing as protection against the elements, masks are an extension of that. This is particular evident in the tribes who built their lives around sand or people who live in the icy and cold conditions. Fast forward to the modern era, the usage of masks is more cultural and very selective like as a personal protective equipment (PPE). Certainly, during normal times, say the 1980s, you wouldn’t walk into a bank wearing a mask, unless you are a bank robber trying to disguise your identity.
If you google pictures of the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, you will find people wearing masks too – as it was the ‘norm’ during those times. However, as soon as the outbreak had been done and dusted, people stopped wearing masks and it was all forgotten. In recent memory, as far as Yours Truly had perceived, the emergence of mask wearing in popular culture stemmed from Japan. You’d easily come across mangas (comics) of daintily high school boys and girls wearing masks or pictures of Japanese workers in masks squeezing themselves into overcrowded trains. In contemporary Japanese culture – at least to the foreigners – there is a huge element politeness and competitiveness. That is to say, having a bit of a cough does not mean you can take a day off work or miss school. So, to still be at work or at school and not annoy others, the politeness element comes into play, which is to wear a mask. Sure, the mask wearing could mitigate some diseases transmission as a side benefit but the point is, if you are truly sick and didn’t want the germs to be passed on, you’d have to stay home.
Of course, with things like fashion, trends do go around and this mask wearing began to appear in other more affluent East Asian countries like Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong. So from time to time, you see the odd person wearing a mask and not much more is thought off. This of course really changed with SARS – the first big corona virus outbreak in the early 2000s. It has been worked out that one (of the many) way SARS was transmitted is by the carriers coughing and the next person breathing that in. So, the public’s ensuing response is to buy masks and wear them, as no one wanted to get sick and SARS did make people very ill and the death rate is quite high (10-20%). [1]
The problem as is now, when everyone goes out and buy a bunch of masks, there is just not enough to go around. Then, you have this big panic of people who are without masks. Consequently, a multitude of responses that followed, was obviously to manufacture and procure more masks for everyone, rationing and surprisingly, a real look into whether masks are effective at stopping transmissions of SARS in public settings.
Long story short, at least for SARS (back in the 2000s), there are theories/reports where wearing a mask in certain instances would actually increases your risk of catching SARS. It was theorised and demonstrated that SARS can survive in moist environments, so after wearing your mask for 10 minutes, your mask will be moist due to the condensations from your breathing and thus presents an attractive place for SARS to ‘live’. Should you then breath across a SARS virus contaminated droplet, where your mask did stop it going further, then the virus will stay viable on your moist mask and eventually you could eventually breath in the SARS virus. The only counter for this quark of SARS is if you change your mask like every 10-20 minutes, which is highly impractical to say the least. (From news reports, it seems the current SARS-CoV-2 can survive in more environments for longer – although still need substantiation and further research!)
The second point is whether your mask is any good. Not all masks are created equal and it might not be good enough to filter out the virus particles – in short, you can have a mask and still be breathing in the virus. Then there is the fitting of the mask, the average mask has some gaps around the edges and that’s like having an armour with holes in it. It offers some protection but it’s not complete protection. If you look at the front line health workers, they use (higher grade) masks in conjunction with other PPEs and have systems and measures in place mitigate the risks. Having masks is only one part of the many defences in place. Hence, people should not be so foolhardy to believe that if they wear a mask, they’d be 100% safe.
The third is, by wearing a mask, unless you are used to it, it is very likely you are going to touch your face more, to either adjust the mask or scratch your face. So in effect, you are touching a very contaminated piece of cloth and then onto your face. There are some arguments that wearing a mask is akin to putting out a big sail cloth catching whatever that is out there.
In summary, the pros of wearing a (good, proper and well fitted) mask is that it is a barrier and it is your first line of defence – even if it’s not 100% fail safe. Of course, the onus is on the individual to use it correctly. It might also give you some comfort against the anxieties you are facing. It might also give others members of public security too, as in East Asian countries, where everyone now wears masks as a sign of respect and showing care for the community – whether the masks are (100%) effective or not.
The cons of not wearing a mask really comes down to social-economic. In the West, if you wear a mask, people think you are sick and thus ostracised. There are even cases of health care professionals told not to wear their scrubs out in public because they have been attacked for being high risk/potential carriers. If a country does not have enough masks – and there generally isn’t enough, then masks need to be allocated to the front line where they are most needed. Plus, there is some unknown as to whether mask wearing is helpful or a hindrance and people can be lured into a false sense of security.
The bottom line is, a mask does stop/block most of your (own) germs from escaping out into the open air. So, with some people showing no symptoms from the current SARS-CoV-2 and the suggestions of people merely talking can spread the virus, it might just be a good idea to assume you have it and the mask serve as a protection for others. To make clear, you are wearing a mask not so much as a protection for yourself but mainly for the protection of others. A bit like Japan mentioned earlier – we have come full circle.
At the end of the day, for the average punter, masks do help a little but the big thing everyone can do now is to observe the proper distancing rules. By not breathing next to each other closely will certainly help more. That is why most jurisdictions are advising or forcing people to stay home first and foremost. The sooner we help each other out, the sooner we can get back to normal.
Struggle Perpetual 