Tag Archives: Face Masks

Double-Masking Offers More Protection

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As more transmissible variants of the coronavirus spread, the CDC says wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mask offers increased protection against the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mask offers more protection against the coronavirus, as does tying knots on the ear loops of surgical masks.

For optimal protection, the CDC says to make sure the mask fits snugly against your face and to choose a mask with at least two layers.

In laboratory testing, CDC discovered that wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mask, and tying knots on the ear loops of surgical masks and then tucking in and flattening the extra material against the face produced substantially improved protection against transmission of and exposure to infectious COVID-19 aerosols.

“A well-fitting masks provided the greatest performance at both blocking emitted aerosols and exposure of aerosols to the receiver”, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said. “In the breathing experiment, having both the source and the receiver wear masks modified to fit better reduced the receiver’s exposure by more than 95%, compared to no mask at all.”

Walensky said the laboratory findings underscore the importance of wearing a mask correctly and ensuring it fits snugly over your nose and mouth.

Correct and consistent mask use is a critical step everyone can take to prevent getting and spreading COVID-19. Masks work best when everyone wears them, but not all masks provide the same protection, according to the CDC. When choosing a mask, look at how well it fits, how well it filters the air, and how many layers it has.

Two important ways to make sure your mask works the best it can:

  1. Make sure your mask fits snugly against your face.  Gaps can let air with respiratory droplets leak in and out around the edges of the mask
  2. Pick a mask with layers to keep your respiratory droplets in and others’ out.  A mask with layers will stop more respiratory droplets getting inside your mask or escaping from your mask if you are sick.

Where your mask after receiving the vaccine

No one knows and there is no ongoing research to determine how well do the approved Pfizer and Moderna vaccines protect against asymptomatic infection and thereby help achieve herd immunity And, the other looming mystery is how long vaccine-induced immunity lasts.

References:

  1. https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/02/10/966313710/cdc-now-recommends-double-masking-for-more-protection-against-the-coronavirus
  2. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/effective-masks.html

Masks Protect Those Around You

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COVID-19 spreads mainly from person to person through respiratory droplets. Respiratory droplets travel into the air when you cough, sneeze, talk, shout, or sing. These droplets can then land in the mouths or noses of people who are near you or they may breathe these droplets in.

Masks are a simple barrier to help prevent your respiratory droplets from reaching others. Studies show that masks reduce the spray of droplets when worn over the nose and mouth.

woman wearing face covering, with a detail showing how the cloth barrier helps to contain respiratory droplets that she exhales

You should wear a mask, even if you do not feel sick. This is because several studies have found that people with COVID-19 who never develop symptoms (asymptomatic) and those who are not yet showing symptoms (pre-symptomatic) can still spread the virus to other people. The main function of wearing a mask is to protect those around you, in case you are infected but not showing symptoms.

It is especially important to wear a mask when you are unable to stay at least 6 feet apart from others since COVID-19 spreads mainly among people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet).

Your mask offers some protection to you

A cloth mask also offers some protection to you too. How well it protects you from breathing in the virus likely depends on the fabrics used and how your mask is made (e.g. the type of fabric, the number of layers of fabric, how well the mask fits). CDC is currently studying these factors.

Who should or should not wear a mask

CDC guidance is that everyone 2 years of age and older should wear a mask in public settings and when they are around people who do not live in their household.  However, according to CDC, masks should not be worn by:

  • Children younger than 2 years old
  • Anyone who has trouble breathing
  • Anyone who is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance
  • Wearing masks may be difficult for some people with sensory, cognitive, or behavioral issues. If they are unable to wear a mask properly or cannot tolerate a mask, they should not wear one,

https://youtu.be/dSvff0QljHQ

Key Takeaways:

  • People age 2 and older should wear masks in public settings and when around people who don’t live in their household.
  • Masks offer some protection to you and are also meant to protect those around you, in case you are unknowingly infected with the virus that causes COVID-19.
  • A mask is NOT a substitute for social distancing. Masks should still be worn in addition to staying at least 6 feet apart.
  • Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol after touching or removing your mask.
  • Postponing holiday travel & staying home is the best way to protect yourself & others from COVID19. If you decide to travel internationally, check out CDC’s testing recommendations to help make travel safer. 
  • Masks may not be necessary when you are outside by yourself away from others, or with other people who live in your household. However, some localities may have mask mandates while out in public and these mandates should always be followed.

References:

  1. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cloth-face-cover-guidance.html

U.S. FDA Approves COVID-19 Plasma Treatment for Emergency Use Authorization

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Eradicating the coronavirus, whether it’s through an effective therapeutic treatment or vaccine, is the key to unlocking the economy.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s granted emergency use authorization of antibody-rich plasma from recovered patients which may lessen the severity of the disease, but experts suggest further research is needed.

Convalescent plasma therapy is an experimental treatment that some physicians are using for people with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The plasma therapy has shown some promise in battling severe illness. People who’ve recovered from COVID-19 have antibodies — proteins the body uses to fight off infections — to the disease in their blood. The blood from people who’ve recovered is called convalescent plasma.

Researchers hope that convalescent plasma can be given to people with severe COVID-19 to boost their ability to fight the virus. It also might help keep people who are moderately ill from becoming more ill and experiencing COVID-19 complications, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Alex Azar, the U.S. health and human services secretary, said during a White House press briefing on Sunday that the treatment has been delivered to more than 70,000 American patients so far. The treatment, according to the FDA’s evaluation, “may be effective in lessening the severity or shortening the length of COVID-19 illness in some hospitalized patients.”

Source: The New York Times Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker

Over 400 vaccines and therapietic treatments are under study as researchers rush to produce effective medicines for the disease. And, 32 of the vaccines are in human trials. The FDA says that for any vaccine to be approved, it will need to prevent infection or decrease its severity in at least 50% of the people vaccinated. The goal is to inoculate enough people with a vaccine that immunity spreads through a community, even if not everyone gets the vaccine. It’s called “herd immunity”, according to WebMD.

For this coronavirus, some experts say about 60% to 70% of the population would need to develop antibodies, whether from a vaccine or getting and recovering from COVID-19, to create herd immunity.

Currently, the most effective ways to protect yourself and others from being infected by the virus are to:

  • Clean your hands frequently and thoroughly
  • Avoid touching your eyes, mouth, and nose
  • Cover your cough with the bend of elbow or tissue
  • Stay home and isolate yourself if you feel ill or ‘under-the-weather’
  • Maintain social physical distance of at least 6 feet from others

Wearing a mask or face covering is no substitute for these additional effective measures.

References:

  1. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/convalescent-plasma-therapy/about/pac-20486440
  2. https://www.cnet.com/news/coronavirus-plasma-treatment-approved-for-emergency-use-but-questions-remain/
  3. https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200610/covid-19-latest-updates

Cotton cloth masks are effective preventing spread of virus

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“Cloth face coverings are one of the most powerful weapons we have to slow and stop the spread of the virus – particularly when used universally within a community setting.”  Robert R. Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

A group of researchers from Duke University are providing answers to the continuing questions about the efficacy of masks.  The researchers analyzed forteen different facial coverings ranging from hospital-grade N95 respirators to bandanas. Of the 14 masks and other coverings tested, the study found that some easily accessible cotton cloth masks are about as effective as standard surgical masks, while popular alternatives such as neck gaiters made of thin, stretchy material may be worse than not wearing a mask at all.

A fitted N95 mask proved was the most effective from the tests noting that the mask allowed “no droplets at all” to come out, according to researchers. Meanwhile, a breathable neck gaiter ranked worse than the no-mask control group.

Neck gaiters are extremely convenient since which they don’t restrict air and droplets which is the reason why they’re not doing much of a job helping people stopping the spread of the virus.

Several studies find that wearing masks will curb the transmission and reduce the risk of coronavirus infection.  Masks do work and they do cut down transmission of the virus.  And, some masks are better than others.

References:

  1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/mask-test-duke-covid/2020/08/10/4f2bb888-db18-11ea-b205-ff838e15a9a6_story.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=wp_main
  2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/06/13/spate-new-research-supports-wearing-masks-control-coronavirus-spread/

Wearing a Facial Mask in Public

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Updated:  August 5, 2020, 10:45 p.m.

Masks are important tools in slowing or stopping the spread of COVID-19.

Wearing masks in public has become a politically charged subject. Even with the rise of COVID-19 infections and deaths across the South and West, Americans continue to debate the need to wear facial coverings in public despite the plethora of scientific evidence showing mask effectiveness in preventing the virus spread.

Despite the universal recommendation to wear masks while out in public from government officials, epidemiologists and medical experts, there stills appears to be a reluctance by the American public to adhere to the guidelines.

Everyday while out in public, even in locations and inside establishments where facial coverings are mandatory, you can observe people out in public refusing to wear masks or wearing them incorrectly and ineffectually.

Periodically, you can observe people with their noses, a critical pathway of the respiratory system, exposed from beneath their masks or their masks worn on their chins.

Whether donning masks incorrectly was being done out of ignorance or political sensibilities, it accomplishes the same end, it does not help reduce the public spread of the coronavirus.

Cloth masks

Cloth masks are at their best when preventing the wearer of the mask from spreading the virus to other people, either when they are already sick, asymptomatic, or even pre-symptomatic.

N95 masks or surgical masks work

According to the CDC, N95 masks and surgical masks are best used in a medical setting, when the amount of virus in the environment is quite a bit higher. The intention of these masks is to reduce the transmission of the virus to the person wearing the mask.

Wearing a mask

Wearing a mask in your neighborhood, in your workplace, or around your community is a way to show you care about those around you. You are essentially saying, “I care about you. I am member of this community. And my intention is to not give this infection to you, even if I don’t know if I’ve got it.”

Washing cloth masks

Cloth masks should be washed every day. It’s helpful to have multiple cloth masks available so you can rotate through your supply while others are washing or drying.

N95 masks or surgical masks are intended to be worn through the course of one day and discarded.

Goldman Sachs’ Analysis Shows Economic Benefits of Wearing Masks

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“The fate of many lives, not to mention the U.S. and global economy, largely depends on the containment of the novel COVID-19 coronavirus.” Goldman Sachs

  • Cloth face coverings may help prevent people who have COVID-19 from spreading the virus to others.(2)
  • Cloth face coverings are most likely to reduce the spread of COVID-19 when they are widely used by people in public settings.(2)

According to a recent analysis by U.S. investment bank, Goldman Sachs, there’s one simple thing Americans can do that would boost U.S. GDP and make a huge difference to the economy, American jobs, and overall prosperity.

Illustration of people wearing cloth face masks

Goldman Sachs’ analysis, led by its chief economist Jan Hatzius, concluded that “a universal mask-wearing order can improve the U.S. GDP by a huge five percentage points”.  And according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “cloth face coverings are recommended as a simple barrier to help prevent respiratory droplets from traveling into the air and onto other people when the person wearing the cloth face covering coughs, sneezes, talks, or raises their voice”.

Goldman agrees with the emerging scientific evidence that “face masks are associated with significantly better coronavirus outcomes.”  And, based on the growing evidence, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has expanded its mask guidance stating that Americans should wear them in all “public settings and when around people who don’t live in your household, especially when other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain”.

Goldman’s analysis concludes “a national face mask order could increase face mask-wearing by 15 percentage points, reducing the transmission growth rate of confirmed cases from 1.6% to 0.6%”. Goldman concludes that “increased face-masking would substitute for local lock downs and social distancing, which caused U.S. GDP to decline 17% between January and April”.

While anecdotal evidence does suggest strongly that universal mask-wearing can greatly benefit the economy and save lives, it has been difficult to convince Americans of this fact.  As a result of not mandating a national face mask-wearing, there has been a resurgence of COVID-19 inflections and hospitalizations in a number of southern and western states in the U.S.

From a medical expert perspective, “if everyone in the U.S. wore a mask, the coronavirus pandemic could be under control within four to eight weeks”, was conveyed by Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention director Robert Redfield in a discussion led by medical journal JAMA.

In summary, Goldman Sachs’ analysis suggests that the economic benefit from “adopting a national face mask mandate and increased face mask usage” could be sizable, especially when compared with the alternative of a return to broader societal lock downs and increasing COVID-19 infections.

Sources:

  1. https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/goldman-sachs-says-this-simple-measure-can-save-lives-and-the-economy-2020-07-14
  2. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html
  3. https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/pages/face-masks-and-gdp.html
  4. https://apple.news/ApjIDbf3mR_u11IZp8goONw

Should You Wear a Mask | Mayo Clinic

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Should you wear a face mask to protect yourself from the virus, even if you’re not sick?

In a video posted by Dr. Nipunie Rajapakse, a Mayo Clinic infectious diseases specialist, states CDC current recommendation:

“The current recommendations regarding masks are that if you yourself are sick with fever and cough, you can wear a surgical mask to prevent transmission to other people. If you are healthy, there is not thought to be any additional benefit to wearing a mask yourself because the mask is not airtight and does not necessarily prevent breathing in of these viral particles, which are very tiny,” says Dr. Nipunie Rajapakse, a Mayo Clinic infectious diseases specialist.

If you are going to a clinic or hospital to be seen by a health care provider because of concerns of cough or fever, Dr. Rajapakse recommends wearing a face mask to avoid transmitting possible infection or virus to other patients and medical staff. Face masks also are recommended for health care workers and people who are taking care of someone infected with COVID-19 in close settings (at home or in a health care facility).

“Most people who do not work in a health care setting have not received training on how to put on and take off the masks properly. Doing this incorrectly can actually increase your risk of infection. Also, people who are wearing masks tend to touch their face more than those who are not, which can paradoxically result in an increased risk of infection as well,” says Dr. Rajapakse.

She says instead of wearing masks, people need to:

  • Wash their hands frequently using soap and water for 20 seconds or an alcohol-based hand rub.
  • Avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth.
  • Practice cough etiquette. Cough into a flexed elbow or tissue, discard the tissue in the trash, and wash hands.
  • Stay home from school, work and public places if feeling unwell.

  1. Nipunie Rajapakse, M.D./Infectious Diseases/Mayo Clinic
  2. https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/covid-19-when-should-you-wear-a-face-mask/