Dr Akili
JF-Expert Member
- Aug 21, 2011
- 4,953
- 4,326
COVID-19 is a new disease and we are learning new things about it every day.
The principle of the use of facial masks is: 'My mask protects you; your mask protects me!'
Your mask does not protect you. In order to protect your self from ingression of virus particles you need more complex equipment called Personal Protective equipment (PPE) which you have seen being worn by the medical personnel caring for patients with Ebola virus or CVID-19 in hospitals.
To prevent egression of viral particles to others if you are infected, any type of mask is quite effective. It is important to remember that over 50% of people infected by coronavirus have no symptoms and many of them will never become sick but egress the viral particles when they speak, cough or sneeze. Such egressions can cause disease to other people. If they wear a mask they will keep these egressions to themselves and not harm others.
Research has shown that even simple cotton masks can dramatically reduce the number of viral particles emitted from our mouths when we speak, sneeze or cough by as much as 99%.
The reproductive rate, R., of COVID-19 is about 2.4. The effectiveness of wearing masks depends on three things: (1) The basic reproductive number, Ro, of the virus in the community; (2) The masks efficiency at blocking transmission and (3) the percentage of people wearing masks. Research has shown that if 80% of the people in a community wear masks that are 60% effective (easily achiveable with cloth masks), we can get to an effective Ro of less than 1.0 which is the magic number enough to halt the spread of this disease!
Cloth masks can be easily available at very minimal cost, can be washed with soap and water, can be ironed to kill any microorganisms and hence be reusable safely for a long period. For a poor country like ours they are the only masks which at least 80% of our community can wear every where and achieve Ro of less than 1.0 in four weeks. Combined with social physical distancing and frequent hand washing we can halt the transmission of this disease in a very short time and at minimal cost.
The secret of why the epidemic in Wuhan did not spread to Shangai, Beijing and other parts of China is that every person in China was forced to wear facial masks everywhere in public otherwise be fired. The compliency was 100% and the disease died out!
For more details visit
The Real Reason to Wear a Mask
The principle of the use of facial masks is: 'My mask protects you; your mask protects me!'
Your mask does not protect you. In order to protect your self from ingression of virus particles you need more complex equipment called Personal Protective equipment (PPE) which you have seen being worn by the medical personnel caring for patients with Ebola virus or CVID-19 in hospitals.
To prevent egression of viral particles to others if you are infected, any type of mask is quite effective. It is important to remember that over 50% of people infected by coronavirus have no symptoms and many of them will never become sick but egress the viral particles when they speak, cough or sneeze. Such egressions can cause disease to other people. If they wear a mask they will keep these egressions to themselves and not harm others.
Research has shown that even simple cotton masks can dramatically reduce the number of viral particles emitted from our mouths when we speak, sneeze or cough by as much as 99%.
The reproductive rate, R., of COVID-19 is about 2.4. The effectiveness of wearing masks depends on three things: (1) The basic reproductive number, Ro, of the virus in the community; (2) The masks efficiency at blocking transmission and (3) the percentage of people wearing masks. Research has shown that if 80% of the people in a community wear masks that are 60% effective (easily achiveable with cloth masks), we can get to an effective Ro of less than 1.0 which is the magic number enough to halt the spread of this disease!
Cloth masks can be easily available at very minimal cost, can be washed with soap and water, can be ironed to kill any microorganisms and hence be reusable safely for a long period. For a poor country like ours they are the only masks which at least 80% of our community can wear every where and achieve Ro of less than 1.0 in four weeks. Combined with social physical distancing and frequent hand washing we can halt the transmission of this disease in a very short time and at minimal cost.
The secret of why the epidemic in Wuhan did not spread to Shangai, Beijing and other parts of China is that every person in China was forced to wear facial masks everywhere in public otherwise be fired. The compliency was 100% and the disease died out!
For more details visit
The Real Reason to Wear a Mask
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