“Why wear a mask?”
References

CDC considering recommending general public wear face coverings in public Should we all be wearing masks? That simple question is under review by officials in the U.S. government and has sparked a grass-roots pro-mask movement. 

Opinion | Why Telling People They Don’t Need Masks Backfired – The New York Times To help manage the shortage, the authorities sent a message that made them untrustworthy.

You could be spreading the coronavirus without realizing you’ve got it Viable virus survived on cardboard for 14 hours and plastic and stainless steel for up to three days (New England Journal of Medicine). It can also hang around in the air for at least 3 hours. In China it was found that nearly 4 of 5 new cases were infected by people who had no symptoms – they were asymptomatic. So everyone wearing masks makes sense to flatten the curve.

Social distancing: new study suggests two meters is not enough The two-meter social distancing rule being used to keep people apart may need to be four times bigger to prevent coronavirus from spreading, a new study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) suggests.

Modeling the Effectiveness of Respiratory Protective Devices in Reducing Influenza Outbreak An 80% compliance rate essentially eliminated the influenza outbreak.   

Q&A with HK microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung who helped confirm coronavirus’ human spread In our experiments previously, we found 100 million virus strands in just one milliliter of a patient’s saliva. If people wear masks only when they feel sick, then the eight infected people on the Diamond Princess would have transmitted it to others because they were not feeling uncomfortable. Wear a mask to protect not only yourself but also others, because if you are infected but asymptomatic, you could still stop the spread by wearing a mask.

The Spreading Coronavirus and the Face-Mask Shortage – The Atlantic “It works; we’ve done many studies,” he says, but emphasizes that fitting the mask tightly around one’s nose is crucial.

Study Reports First Case of Coronavirus Spread by Asymptomatic Person – Scientific American

Face masks to prevent transmission of influenza virus: a systematic review Many national and international health agencies recommended the use of face masks during the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic. 

Influenza Virus Aerosols in Human Exhaled Breath: Particle Size, Culturability, and Effect of Surgical Masks Surgical masks reduced the overall number of RNA copies by 3.4 fold. These results suggest an important role for aerosols in transmission of influenza virus and that surgical facemasks worn by infected persons are potentially an effective means of limiting the spread of influenza.

Transmission of 2019-nCoV Infection from an Asymptomatic Contact in Germany | NEJM The fact that asymptomatic persons are potential sources of 2019-nCoV infection may warrant a reassessment of transmission dynamics of the current outbreak.

Unmasking the Surgical Mask: Does It Really Work? | MedPage Today Consistent use of N95 respirators prevented 75% of respiratory infections

Persistence of coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces and their inactivation with biocidal agents Sodium hypochlorite required a minimal concentration of at least 0.21% to be effective. Hydrogen peroxide was effective with a concentration of 0.5% and an incubation time of 1 min. Human coronaviruses can remain infectious on inanimate surfaces for up to 9 days. Surface disinfection with 0.1% sodium hypochlorite or 62-71% ethanol significantly reduces coronavirus infectivity on surfaces within 1 min exposure time.

Why Face Masks Are Encouraged in Asia, but Shunned in the U.S. | Time David Hui, a respiratory medicine expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who studied the 2002 to 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) extensively, says it’s “common sense” that wearing a mask would protect against infectious diseases like COVID-19.

World Health Organization officials wear masks during their news briefings

To Mask or Not to Mask: Confusion spreads over coronavirus protection “Situations that require a mask are when you are in a crowd…or if you are caring for a sick person. If it makes you feel better, wear a surgical mask,” Angela Rasmussen, virologist at the Center for Infection & Immunity at Columbia University said on the Reuters Global Markets Forum.