Masked Bandit

It still feels surreal to walk into a place of business with a mask on my face.

In other times, a masked man would certainly be viewed with suspicion, as though he might be there to rob the place.

Today, though, while some may view those who wear masks with ridicule, mask wearing is the norm and, in a great many places, expected.

The newest update guidance from the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) “recommends community use of masks, specifically non-valved multi-layer cloth masks, to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2.”¹

Masks

• “are primarily intended to reduce the emission of virus-laden droplets (‘source control’)”…,
• “also help reduce inhalation of these droplets by the wearer (‘filtration for personal protection’).“
• The community benefit of masking for SARS-CoV-2 control is due to the combination of these effects; individual prevention benefit increases with increasing numbers of people using masks consistently and correctly.

More than 50% of transmission of cases are estimated to come from infected people who feel well and may be unaware of their infectiousness.³ These people would be asymptomatic or presymptomatic.

The updated guidance from the CDC says that the wearing of masks “to reduce the emission of virus-laden droplets by the wearer is especially relevant  for these people.”

Given all of that, it seems that the non-mask wearers are the ones who might well warrant being regarded with suspicion since most transmission of the disease occurs from people who just feel fine.

I feel just fine… and plan to wear my mask whenever I am out and about.

• 1. Scientific Brief: Community Use of Cloth Masks to Control the Spread of SARS-CoV-2 – CDC
  2. November 10, 2020
  3. The implications of silent transmission for the control of COVID-19 outbreaks; Moghadas SM, Fitzpatrick MC, Sah P, et al.; “We found that the majority of incidences may be attributable to silent transmission from a combination of the presymptomatic stage and asymptomatic infections. Consequently, even if all symptomatic cases are isolated, a vast outbreak may nonetheless unfold.”