Quote:
Originally Posted by Love2Swim
I believe the scientists and health professionals who recommend wearing a mask. According to the Mayo Clinic, highly respected in the medical community, a mask, protects the wearer's nose and mouth from contact with droplets, splashes and sprays that may contain germs. A surgical mask also filters out large particles in the air. Surgical masks may protect others by reducing exposure to the saliva and respiratory secretions of the mask wearer. To put it more simply, yes the virus is small, but it is encased in droplets or saliva, and the mask protects against those droplets should a person who is asymptomatic releases those droplets somehow. That said, one must be careful not to contaminate their mask.
|
Agreed. Quantitative evidence is showing something that makes sense when you think about it. Prolonged exposure to someone with the virus = larger initial virus dose = higher chance of getting infected. A 40 minute train ride sitting next to someone infected is worse than passing someone in the aisle of a grocery store.
Yes, a single aerosoled virus will pass through a mask. But that's a low dose. A droplet of saliva loaded with virus from an infected person who sneezes is a high dose. That will be captured by the mask. Your chances of catching the virus if you wear a mask are lower, but not non-existent. Simple.
This links to a post by Muge Cevik MD, summarizing a scientific paper on the subject.
Twitter