Respiratory Masks: Are They all the same ?
All respirator masks are not the same. Chances are you are wearing one that probably harms more than actually stopping the Corona Virus to spread. According to San Francisco Department of Public Health's Tweet: “the ones with the valves or openings on the front are NOT safe, and may actually propel your germs further.”
San Francisco's Health Department claimed it was the original health order which needed a face covered properly and informed that a mask with a one way valve should not be worn.
“Valves of that type permit droplet release from the mask, putting others at risk, the ones with the valves or openings on the front are NOT safe, and may actually propel your germs further.” the tweet stated. Many medical experts agree with the tweet.
During a TV talk, Dr. Ali Raja, executive vice chair of the department of emergency medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital said that the Coronavirus can be transmitted through the valves, which offer no filtration at all.
“In the spirit of ‘your mask protects me and my mask protects you,’ a mask with a valve virtually makes that impossible,” said Jessica Malaty Rivera, MS, a microbiologist and contributor at the COVID 19 Tracking Project. “If you don’t have anything filtering what’s going out, it’s kind of like your mouth is an open air exhaust. And that’s the danger,”.
The San Francisco Fire Dept. tweeted a video highlighting the mask they are using and how they have to use another mask to cover the valves up. “We put together this video because our firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics were coming on scene with COVID-positive patients who were wearing these masks,” claimed Adrienne Sims, the director of San Francisco Firefighters Local 798.
Many lookalike masks with valves are available online. According to majority N95 masks are the benchmark for health workers and are not easy to obtain specially with a pandemic on hand.
Most masks on the internet are cool looking, stretchy and have comfortable cloth on it. Most people think they hit a jackpot when they get equipped with such N95 masks. An average Joe won't know that he wont be safe with such a mask. It destroys the very purpose of wearing a mask.
Authorities around the World including World Health Organization (WHO) recommended people to wear masks in public spaces. Most doctors said that it is OK to wear a homemade mask as long as they are multi layered. Some medical experts told people to avoid buying N95 respiratory masks as they are for people in the healthcare sector.
Doctors claim the masks are there to protect you from receiving any DNA which might contain Covid-19 virus through spit while talking to others and vice versa. Yet medical professionals still claim the best way to avoid getting the virus is to maintain social distancing and occasional hand washes with proper anti bacterial soaps and sanitizers.