The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped life as we all know it. Many of us are staying home, avoiding people on the street and altering daily habits, like going to school or work, in ways we never imagined.

While we are changing old behaviours, there are new routines we have to adopt. In the beginning is the behavior of wearing a masks or face covering every time we’re in a public space.

Primarily based on our prior work in outbreaks of infectious diseases, we know that clear, constant messages about what people can do to protect themselves and their group are critical. By that measure, the messaging on masks has been confusing.

Early in the pandemic, most of the people was told not to wear masks. This was driven by the longstanding recognition that standard surgical masks (also called medical masks) are insufficient to protect the wearer from many respiratory pathogens, as well as the priority about diverting limited provides from healthcare settings.

Science is the pursuit of data and understanding, and it inevitably changes the way we see the world. Thanks to the tireless efforts of scientists in all places, we now have compressed years of analysis on the COVID-19 virus into months. This has led to a fast evolution of insurance policies and proposals, and never surprisingly some skepticism in regards to the advice of experts.

These are among the things we’ve learned:

Masks and face coverings can forestall the wearer from transmitting the COVID-19 virus to others and will provide some protection to the wearer. A number of research have shown that face coverings can comprise droplets expelled from the wearer, which are accountable for almost all of transmission of the virus. This ‘source control’ approach reflects a shift in thinking from a ‘medical’ perspective (will it protect the wearer?) to a ‘public health’ perspective (will it help reduce neighborhood transmission and risk for everybody?).
Many people with COVID-19 are unaware they’re carrying the virus. It is estimated that forty% of individuals with COVID-19 are asymptomatic however doubtlessly able to transmit the virus to others. In the absence widespread screening tests, now we have no means of identifying many people who find themselves silently transmitting the virus of their community.
Universal masks use can significantly reduce virus transmission locally by stopping anyone, together with those that are unwittingly carrying the virus, from transmitting it to others. Illness modeling suggests masks worn by significant portions of the inhabitants, coupled with different measures, might lead to substantial reductions in case numbers and deaths.
Masks aren’t excellent obstacles to transmission, but they don’t must be excellent if they aren’t used alone. Universal masks use must be accompanied by different public health measures comparable to physical distancing, testing, contact tracing and restrictions on giant gatherings. These measures aren’t perfect either, but when many imperfect measures are combined at a neighborhood stage, they can be very efficient at slowing transmission and reducing infections.

Masks also can reduce the inequitable impact of the pandemic, notably for many who live in crowded environments the place physical distancing is troublesome, and for those who work in frontline roles the place there’s a larger risk of exposure to the virus.

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