Face masks and why you should wear one if you can

Image: The effect of wearing a facemask vs not on viral transmission showing the spread of droplets and the expulsion of air. The exhalation is more tightly contained with the mask reducing transmission, especially in close quarters.

It’s about reducing transmission and stopping unnecessary deaths.

We’re all familiar with COVID-19 now but there’s a lot of confusion, internet memes and misinformation out there about masks so we’re going to try to break it down for you.

Most people agree that safeguarding lives is a good thing, and whilst there has been a litany of errors with the governments handling of the pandemic, the wearing of masks now is not something to be ignored. It may have come late but it’s still important. Together we can help reduce the death count and get our society back to normal.

Face masks, do they work?

Yes! But also, this depends on what you mean by work. Simpler surgical or cloth masks won’t 100% safeguard you against virus particles unless your using something like an N95 mask. Simpler masks will however reduce the transmission rate as COVID-19 is predominately spread by droplets from coughs, sneezes and speaking.

N95 masks contain specialised filters that protect the wearer from airborne particles and from liquid contamination and are designed to form a seal around the mouth and nose. They’re more aptly known as Respirators and are designated as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). They’re what’s used in a clinical setting to safeguard healthcare workers and are used in conjunction with eye protection or face guards which you’ve probably seen.

Any physical barrier will reduce the transmission of COVID-19. The virus is spread through droplets and any barrier will reduce this transmission. If you have a mask on and so does someone else your risks are much lower of transmitting the disease and that’s the long and short of it.

Some masks will be better than others, but something is better than nothing. It’s about mitigating risk and if you can, you should!

Do face masks reduce my oxygen levels?

No! Would surgeons wear face masks in surgery and still be alive if they did? Face masks can not and will not reduce the level of oxygen you receive. Anyone who tells you they will is sadly misinformed.

Why are we being asked to wear them now and not earlier when the pandemic was at it’s peak?

Good question, and something some conspiracists seize upon. The answer is complex but in short, there were issues with the government’s advice. They were slow to act on things and initially the Mayor of London put this forward and was shot down. Hindsight is a thing here. Similarly, there were extensive PPE shortages due to our government’s failure to stockpile, which meant that resources were redirected to the front line staff as they were most at risk.  If everyone had suddenly rushed out - or rather ordered in - masks, the front-line staff wouldn’t have had the kit they needed to do their jobs. It’s an unfortunate truth but one better discussed in another article.

Now this issue has been overcome and our hospitals are no longer inundated. We have more resources and lockdown is being eased. To help cut down transmission you can wear a mask to reduce cases and deaths. In a perfect world we’d have done this sooner, along with more investment in stockpiles and healthcare, but once again, hindsight…

But aren’t masks just a government control practice designed to test the limits of our government’s tyranny on the population?

Some of you may be perplexed at this question, but it honestly does come up. The answer is no. There are no doubt times when governments do dodgy things, but this isn’t one of them. There is no benefit to anyone in power if you wear a mask in a shop. There’s no secret control program. It’s a mask to help reduce transmission, that’s it. 5G isn’t causing COVID-19 either just for clarity.

I’ve seen that the survival rate of COVID-19 is something like 99.5% so are masks really necessary?

So, the “survival rate” is more complex. This ranges across age groups and is complicated but it’s true that only a small percentage of people have actually died from COVID-19 in the UK. That said, percentages are a funny thing. 1% of 66,000,000 (rough UK population) is 660,000, 0.1% is 66,000. That’s a big number, and at this point I’m sure you know someone either directly or indirectly that has died from COVID-19. If you don’t, your friends will.

Antibody tests show that only a minority of people have been infected with COVID-19. We know this from randomised testing. This means that whilst the excess death count puts us at around 60,000 deaths, in may only around 7% of the population had had COVID-19. By June, it was closer to 9%. Once again, those numbers paint a bleak picture. There may be mutations to the virus, we may be better prepared but if the same numbers hold true we’d be in for a rough ride, and our healthcare which has been slashed in recent years can only provide services to so many people. If everyone gets COVID, and it “only” kills 0.5% of the population that’s still 330,000. Numbers need to be kept in context to make sense, and some people prey on this to spread misinformation.

I’ve read that deaths were counted as COVID deaths when they were really other things though, so surely it’s not necessary to wear masks?

Well, the “excess deaths” paint a different picture. If you take the average of all deaths over a 5 year period and compare it to this year, we’re massively over it. The risk and danger is there. It won’t cost you anything to wear a mask except for a few pennies so why not? You buy home insurance, why? Just in case. Ultimately, it’s not going to hurt anyone, and the danger of not doing it and it being necessary is that people die. Is that a risk worth taking? Didn’t think so!

But some conspiracy theories have been right so maybe the ones about masks might be too?

If you’ve seen this, you’re probably familiar with the term “sheeple”. Cutting straight through it, some fringe ideas turned out to be correct but it doesn’t mean they all are. Otherwise, it’d suddenly mean the moon is made of cheese because people predicted the financial crisis. Also, fringe ideas aren’t necessarily conspiracy theories, some are just events people thought couldn’t happen. Conspiracy theories are the more strange ones. It’s a false equivalence and it’s done on purpose to confuse you! Once again, there’s no harm to you from wearing a mask but if you have COVID-19 or someone else does and they don’t have a mask, you’re at a higher risk of contracting the virus and spreading it to others without a mask. Don’t take the risk because someone used the word “sheeple”.

But COVID-19 isn’t real and its actually just aliens seizing control of Boris Johnson and they’re using masks to transmit data from human beings to their mother ship via a digital relay system engineered by Huawei.

I’ve made this one up, just wear a mask if you can. Don’t fret if you can’t. Boris Johnson may or may not be controlled by aliens though, I don’t have the necessary security clearance.

If you see any more naysayers about masks please leave a comment below and we’ll do our best to tackle them as well!