I fully anticipate getting angry responses from this column; these days, saying you don't agree with the “must wear a mask” requirements is taken as if I had said “I support a mass-murderer.” People have become so protective over masks that anyone who dares to say they don't agree with a forced-mandate for face masks is automatically attacked.
But I've kept silent on this topic, intentionally, in the hopes of not stirring up any pot – but I have a big spoon and a whole can of worms and I think its time to both open the can and stir the pot.
That mask you have been wearing for months into every single store? It most likely does not work.
Oh, you can come back to me and insist it does, you can claim that there if “proof” that masks prevent COVID-19 spread and you can say I “want people to die” (yes – that comment was offered to me by a very loving social media user when I stated that I disagree with mask mandates. Because apparently, in this day and age not believing in masks = hoping people die).
If you go to the CDC website page regarding COVID-19 and masks, they never once make a definitive claim that masks are the key to staying COVID-free. Instead, the CDC uses language like “may” and “might” or “most likely.” There is no infallible science to back up that the masks definitely work, 100 percent of the time, on protecting you – and the fact that a number of health care workers (who are wearing masks) are contracting COVID-19 certainly raises some questions – if masks work, then why is the group of people who wear masks the most still getting sick?
Further, everyone who is mindlessly wearing a mask because “better safe than sorry” is vastly misunderstanding the purpose that different masks serve.
N95 masks are not meant to contain contamination. When you are wearing an N95 mask you are protecting one person and one person only – yourself. The mask is meant to protect its wearer from outside contagions; when you exhale through an N95 mask, the mask is designed to exhale into contamination – which means your breath is not being filtered at all on its way out. That means that if the person standing right next to you in the grocery store has COVID-19 and he's wearing an N95 mask, he is spewing germs all over you; he might as well not even be wearing a mask...so much for the “wear a mask, protect others” mentality.
Surgical masks are meant for already sterile environments. Doctors and surgeons wear surgical masks in areas that are already clean and so these masks employ very little filtration. The purpose of these masks is not to filter contagions. When you are wearing a surgical mask outside of a sterile environment, that mask gets clogged quickly. Rather than protecting you, the mask collects any germ it comes in contact with and “carries” it around with you.
The moisture from your breath, combined with the clogged mask will render your mask useless very quickly. In the event that you are in contact with COVID-19 and your surgical mask traps the germ, you will actually end up doing more harm than good – because you are now a walking virus dispenser. Every time you put your mask on, you will breathing the germs your mask collected off onto everyone else. Your surgical mask may work for brief uses, but after an hour of use, it is no longer doing its job and it needs to be thrown away.
Cloth masks, ranging from homemade lined masks to bandanas tied around your face like a Wild West Bandit, have been lauded as the “easy” way for everyone to adhere to the “life-saving” mask rules....which is a joke, right? Cloth masks don't filter anything – if they did, why weren't they already in common use by medical professionals before this COVID-19 thing flared up? Rather than filter, cloth masks act as a trap. Whatever you breathe in gets trapped in the fibers of your mask and whatever you breath out stays – and gets breathed out onto other people. Cloth masks also create other, legitimate, risks to your health. The moisture from your breath that is caught in these masks can become easily mildew-ridden, unless you are cleaning your mask after every single use. The masks also are hard to sterilize and get fully clean after use – which means you are likely dragging germs along with you from inside your mask.
Rather than panic and hastily jump onto the mask bandwagon, maybe it is time we implement the good, old-fashioned etiquette for preventing virus spread: wash your hands, don't cough into the air or your hands, don't touch people, remember to keep your distance (because personal space and boundaries) and if you don't feel well, just stay home and rest; stop coming to work or school with a sore throat, the sniffles or “just a small bug.”
So, if you see me not wearing a mask, don't assume I want COVID-19 to ruin the world and bring about the apocalypse (again – I've been told that by another 'pleasant' social-media user). I'm just doing what I believe is best for my health – just as you are wearing a mask because you feel it is best for yours.
I don't mind if you wear a mask. Just keep your mask to yourself and don't push for unlawful government rules that force my face into a mask.
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