The CDC has now recommended the use of cloth or homemade masks for being out in public for all people, especially those in “hot spots”; this includes New York and surrounding suburbs including here in Montclair, New Jersey.
Many people are likely walking around carrying SARS-CoV-2 without even knowing it, especially here in the epicenter. That is why it is still essential that we also continue to stay home, leave only when absolutely necessary and distance while we are out.
What type of mask should I wear?
The recommendation to wear a face covering does NOT mean you need to procure a respirator, surgical mask, or N95 mask. The recommendation is essentially to cover your nose and mouth while you are out. You could use a cloth mask, a bandana, any other type of cloth.
Taken from CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/pdfs/UnderstandDifferenceInfographic-508.pdf
Am I fully protected if I wear a mask?
Covering your face with a cloth mask actually protects others from your larger respiratory droplets (see below) by blocking them from spreading around you. It does not completely protect others from smaller respiratory droplets or aerosolized virus (essentially meaning particles moving about the air like a gas). It also does not completely protect you from aerosolized particles as your mouth and nose are not fitted to the covering with tight seal and weave of you fabric will likely be large enough for aerosols to enter. However overall, everyone will be more protected if everyone has one on!
What is a respiratory droplet anyway?
This refers to tiny globs of mucus, water, and particles that can include viruses. By tiny, it can be anything from 3 microns to visible drops—so sometimes not visible to the human eye! Even talking produces respiratory droplets. Here’s a good graphic
https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(16)30531-4/pdf
What does it mean to be in close contact?
This actually has a medical definition which changes based on each illness (for example, Measles can linger in the air hours after someone with Measles has passed through a location. You may have been in close contact even though you physically weren’t that close.) In the case of SARS-CoV-2, if you are in close enough proximity to catch respiratory droplets, then you are in close contact (approx < 6 ft radius of a person). Looking at the above graphic makes it easy to see why being physically close to someone could lead to infection. As you can see, truly tiny (<5micron) particles can float about in a space and infect someone who is 6 feet or more away from you. And thats why congregating or having a “6-feet-away-from-eachother” party at your house is still putting you at high risk of sharing Coronavirus.
Why did they change the recommendation from not wearing masks to wearing masks?
Great question! The information around SARS-CoV-2 is rapidly changing. Because it is a totally new virus, we don’t know fully how it acts. For example, people STILL debate about how much flu virus infects people through aerosols, and it has been around since the 1500s. Originally it was thought that the larger globs of coronavirus in our respiratory droplets were the main culprit for spreading infection to others. So as long as you weren’t close to someone sneezing, coughing or talking, AND if you avoided touching things that had droplets on them, AND washed your hands often while avoiding touching your face… then you were probably OK.
Also, due to the shortage of medical protective equipment, the messaging went against mass consumption of these products. But— the current evidence shows that the virus is spread pretty easily (approx 2x as easily as flu). Also, based on the fact that we are always producing droplets, and many people walk around asymptomatic, its probably better that we are all covering our faces, all the time.