Does Wearing a Mask Help Prevent the Spread of COVID-19?

The question of whether masks help prevent the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 has no simple answer. We have to keep in mind that the important part of the question is “help”. We aren’t expecting to go out into the world bio-lab certified. We just want to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

OSHA and others poopoo wearing masks because the virus is so small it goes right through the mask. It is true that the size of the porous routes of most masks is larger than the virus. Thus, masks do not provide “adequate filter performance”. But what is considered adequate? Again, we’re just wanting to slow the spread not make you safe to kiss someone's lips. That is why social distancing comes with mask-wearing.

You see, the virus isn’t flying around on tiny little wings. It doesn't fly through the mask like it wasn’t there. The virus hitches a ride in the water droplets of our breath, AKA aerosolized. It has no choice but to reside in the water droplets due to the surface tension of water. Sorry, I didn’t make the rules of physics.

When a person breathes out, a mist of breath with 100% humidity travels through the air at a certain velocity and spread, depending on nasal or mouth breathing. If we can hinder our exhale while maintaining social distancing, we’re helping prevent the spread of the disease.

Wearing a mask slows the velocity of our breath physically, and a fresh dry mask will absorb the moisture. If you are infected, the virus will be found on the outside of your mask as well as on the inside. This is why it is critical to not touch your mask because you’ll infect your fingers and anything you touch.

Now, what does the virus on the outside of the mask mean (other than don’t touch it)? That’s a good question. Can virus particles sitting on the outside of the mask become airborne? Like I said, they don’t have tiny little wings and can take flight once they’ve passed through the mask. They’d have to be aerosolized. And of course, it depends on how close the virus particles are to the absolute outer edge of the mask. Maybe they're just inside the mask pores stuck due to moisture. You can swab the mask to see how many virus particles are there but you'll be depressing the mask material, flattening the outer material and changing the equation.

Unfortunately, we don’t really know any more than that. Can the air around you pick up virus particles from the outside of your mask while you're walking around? Probably. Can they hitch a ride as the moisture on the outside of the mask evaporates? It is probably a safe bet to say "yes".

It is safe to conclude that fewer viral particles will enter the air and travel shorter distances coming from the outside of an infected mask than if there was nothing to stop your breath traveling at 0.16 m2/s. Thus, wearing masks do help prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3613375/#:~:text=For%20nasal%20breathing%2C%20the%20maximum,m2%2Fs%2C%20respectively.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-04-surgical-cotton-masks-effectively-filter.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7153751/

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