Wear a Mask: YES? NO?

The case for/against wearing masks is not conclusive.  This article is based upon the views of Gov. Herbert, Dr. Angela Dunne and the recent report from BYU researcher, Dr. Benjamin Abbott and his team.

After analysis of 130 studies focused upon the efficacy (or lack thereof), of wearing a mask, the BYU team concluded and hopes to persuade the public that: We are safer wearing a mask when physical distancing is not possible.


Dr. Abbott points out that the benefit of wearing a mask to limit the transmission of COVID-19 got off to a bad start in the early months of the pandemic because public health leaders and scientists relied upon the data of earlier viral outbreaks where masks had proven ineffective.

This was followed by WHO and CDC pronouncements that Staying Home, was the only way to interfere with the spread of COVID-19 a virus far deadly than earlier viral outbreaks.  At least one reason for this organized misinformation was to discourage public hoarding of scarce masks because they were desperately needed by front-line care providers.  These same providers also needed every day facial coverings to safely manage personal/family needs like grocery shopping.

A few months into COVID-19, new data was forthcoming here and abroad.  The majority of scientists, American public health officials and medical professionals now support the view that masks are essential in slowing the transmission.*   

Dr. Abbott points out that to be effective we all must wear masks. “My mask protects you; your mask protects me.”  He added: “We know that mortality rates go down with mask wearing.”  

Dr. Abbott, Gov. Gary Herbert and Dr. Angela Dunne, Utah’s Epidemiologist agree:

• People who are infected, but show NO symptoms (asymptomatic), are responsible for 50% or more of the spread of the illness. ** 
• A face covering worn by an infected person lowers the amount of virus they can expel through coughing, sneezing and talking. 
• Once air borne the COVID-19 virus is viable for minutes to hours, capable of infecting those who come in contact with it in the air or by touching an infected surface and then touching their nose, mouth, eyes – the established entry points of the virus. 
• Several countries provide years of evidence that masks are physically safe for the wearer.  The exception would be children under age two and very rarely others, says Dr Abbott.  
• Americans are not accustomed to wearing masks and some have politicized the point, obscuring the scientific pronouncement that wearing a face covering limits the spread and lowers the number of fatalities. *** 
• There are huge health and economic pay-offs from following the majority science and wearing a mask indoors when physical distancing is not possible (or reliable.)  

NOTES:

* Be advised this is not the only informed viewpoint, as I will demonstrate in following weeks. 

** It certainly has not helped, that WHO and CDC have gone back and forth on the issue of whether asymptomatic people can transmit the disease to others.  Currently, they agree that a person can manifest no symptoms yet be infected and spread COVID-19 to others.   

*** Based upon what is known/accepted by scientific majority as of this date July 31, 2020.

Caveat:  Don’t allow your mask to give you a false sense of security. Masks are not a silver bullet; they work in conjunction with the other precautions: physical distancing of at least 6 feet; frequent hand washing for 20 seconds or longer with soap and hot water; using hand sanitizer when soap & water are not available; staying home when unwell and self-quarantining when appropriate. 

My personal behavior regarding mask-wearing:  I am high risk by age and health limitations.  I am only too happy to wear a clean mask when I am indoors, around others not of my household.  I am strict about physical distancing indoors – and even do it outdoors.  I have been fully apprised since day one of the limitations of cloth face coverings, because even with 2 or 3 layers of material, they are thin, made of relatively porous fabric and generally ill-filling around checks. (paper tape?)  

Even so, I always have the best of my cloth masks with me, even if I am not likely to need to wear it – for EX. On my daily walks.  If I had to be in a group of people, an N95 mask would be safer. Safer yet, an N99 with built in eye shielding.  I have never suffered an ill-effect from wearing a mask.  Personally, I have no need to wear a mask beyond 2 hours and generally for less than an hour, but would not hesitate to wear it longer, if I felt it was prudent.  But for those of you required to wear a mask for a work-day, I understand it could be a negative experience. 

I should mention that I am a long-time user of masks, beginning in 1998 due to a medically diagnosed and treated environmental illness.  I have had health-saving results from mask wearing.  Long before COVID-19 I began using a mask when pumping fuel, being exposed to common chemicals and sitting in a shoulder-to-shoulder audience.