Dr Bec’s Fact Checks #2 To MASK or NOT TO MASK, that is the question ;0)
First up, it’s important to know the difference between the 2 types of masks out there, and what they are designed to do.
The normal SURGICAL MASK that is most widely used is designed to KEEP THINGS IN, ie to be used if you’ve got any respiratory symptoms at all such as cough, fever, shortness of breath etc. It is designed to keep the people around you safe from a virus that you may have and means you don’t get the virus on your hands or surfaces. To be honest, if you have these symptoms, you really need to be staying at home, so the only place you should be seeing these types of masks is in your own home if you have a sick family member or in a medical doctors or hospital waiting room.
The P2/N95 MASKS, the ones with thicker fabric & sometimes a little filter on them are designed to KEEP THINGS OUT, but from my research, may give people a false sense of security & hence be counter-productive to keeping you safe from virus transmission. It is important that you wear these if you are in contact with someone has the virus but they need to be completely sealed around your face & applied & removed very carefully (I’ve attached the WHO How-To video below). They also require you to have washed you hands regularly with soap and water or they don’t protect you. My research tells me that if you are not in frontline healthcare or caring for a sick person, you are best to just wash your hands well & regularly & not touch your face.
Many people have asked me “what about if someone coughs on your at the shops”. Well first of all, going back to Fact Check #1, if you’re staying 2 m away from people, the airborne virus will drop pretty quickly so its pretty impossible that it would end up on your face anyway, but particles will end up on surfaces & the floor. In that case, again, you need to wash your hands after touching surfaces and stop touching the T-zone on our faces. Spacial distancing & hand hygiene … the message is the same and still really effective.
The important thing to note is that it is very unlikely that you will come into contact with the SARS-CoV-2 virus just going to the shops or walking in the park, and the best defence is keeping your body healthy with that super immune system that you were born with for just this purpose, fighting off invaders. Vit D from the sun, melatonin from good sleep habits & all those goodies from a well balanced diet full of leafy greens will help enormously, the science is pretty clear on that! And if you’re stressed or worried, please reach out to us, we’re here to help, with information, advice, healthcare & an ear.
Cheers
Bec