Can flimsy masks keep virus at bay?
Credit to Author: Agence France-Presse| Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2020 16:29:03 +0000
BANGKOK: As fears of a deadly virus sweep the globe, panicked members of the public are depending on a flimsy first line of defense — surgical masks that are coveted but in short supply and of limited use.
While Asian commuters cover their noses and mouths with the blue-green paper-thin covers — and social media buzzes with mask emojis, rumors of stockpiles and shortages — the humble medical mask has become an essential weapon in the battle against an invisible enemy.
Cheap, mass-made and usually readily available at convenience stores, experts dispute the usefulness of masks as a tool to block transmission of the new severe acute respiratory syndrome-like virus.
While the basic, loose-fitting mask can help restrict the spread of cough droplets from infected people, they are a “one-way” defense and do not create an effective barrier to breathing in dangerous airborne microbes.
“It is not one of the recommended barrier measures” for people who have not been contaminated, according to France’s Health Minister Agnes Buzyn.
Satoshi Hiroi, a senior researcher at the Osaka Institute of Public Heath, said high-quality masks could be effective, referring to more expensive, tight-fitting respirators used to filter fine particulates of dust and pollution.
“But, as always, there is no 100-percent guarantee,” he said, adding that the science was still out on exactly how the virus — which has so far killed 106 people and infected over 4,000 — was transmitted.
Still, from Bangkok to Manila, people donned surgical masks, an act of self-defense in worrying times.
Others wore heavier duty — and more effective — PM2.5 or 3M (N95) masks.
On Monday, the mayor of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, took an online battering after wearing his mask inside-out.
“You can inhale the virus if there is a gap between the mask and the face,” said Hiroi.