The wearing of face masks to prevent disease transmission is now called masking.1
“We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection … The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal … In many cases, the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic.” From a New England Journal of Medicine article.2
- “outside health care facilities” What is different about the encounter in a medical facility and out? Of course, other than the fact that HCFs are cesspools of contagion, disease and filth.
- Why does the first statement lead directly without further consideration (“is therefore”) to the second statement?
- I have to say that I wholeheartedly agree with the third statement except I prefer the wearing of masks to “masking”.
But then they recanted because they felt readers were misinterpreting their intended message.3 I didn’t, I agree with Mr. Batura
Has anyone heard of the research that shows that in certain situations the wearing of a mask increases the chance of becoming infected with coronavirus? Me either. But consider this. You are wearing a mask in a situation where the ambient air is very saturated with microscopic water droplets carrying the coronavirus. Some of that air infiltrates into your mask in areas that are not well sealed. (Oh yes, all these wonderful home made, Walmart purchased, sold-as N-95 equivalent’s have gaping holes at the side of the nose and cheeks. Not to mention the idiots that wear their masks covering their mouth but not their nose!) Now,you get to breath a super concentrated coronavirus air mixture deep into those not-so-protected lungs.
And consider that persons wearing a face mask touch their face many more times than when not wearing a mask. Touching the face increases the chance of transmitting the coronavirus from a fomite (non-living surface) to the mask wearer. This is one of the common ways to get COVID-19.
A study I participated in through the American Board of Pediatrics monitored hand washing by clinicians before and after patient care. I recognized, early in my career, that I was particularly susceptible to viral infections. I became a fanatic hand washer and did well in the study. But I , and others, have noticed that the majority of my colleagues are not. In fact, I have observed that about 30% did not wash their hands once during a 12 hour shift.
As to the other direction of this article, I have a post to come about lying.
BTW, as of July 19, 2020, the world has had 14,317,239 cases of coronavirus with a reported 602,865 number of deaths giving a reported death rate of 4.2 % (down from 6+%).
The USA has 3,712,604 cases and 140,120 deaths giving a reported death rate of 3.7% (also down from 2 months ago). What is causing the declining death rate? Increased testing.
You really don’t want to get COVID-19? Become a hermit, I mean a real hermit. Wear a body condom.4
From your grumpy Uncle Dave.
- Paul Batura. Coronavirus masks spark controversy, but what about the invisible ‘masks’ we all wear? Foxnews.com. July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 from https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/coronavirus-masks-invisible-masks-paul-batura.
- Klompas M, Morris CA, Sinclair J, Pearson M, Shenoy ES. May 21, 2020. Universal masking in hospitals in the Covid-19 era. Retrieved July 19, 2020 from N Engl J Med 2020;382(21):e63-e63.
- Klompas M, et al. Letters to the Editor regarding Universal masking in hospitals in the Covid-19 era.Retrieved July 19, 2020 from N Engl J Med 2020; 383:e9
- The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988).