• Question: Do you think we should all be wearing masks when we go outside?

    Asked by anon-251709 on 24 Apr 2020.
    • Photo: Wei Xun

      Wei Xun answered on 24 Apr 2020: last edited 24 Apr 2020 12:04 pm

      The official advise for the general public is that you should wear a mask if: 1) you are sick yourself and are sneezing and coughing or 2)if you are in close contact with someone who is sick (so if you live in the same household, or are caring for them).

      But they insist that it must be combined with frequent hand-washing and that you know how to use masks properly.

      Here is the World Health Organisations page on masks:
      https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/when-and-how-to-use-masks

      This advice could change so please keep updated!

    • Photo: Philip Denniff

      Philip Denniff answered on 24 Apr 2020:

      First you should follow the government’s instructions which are aimed at the good of the community as well as your protection.
      You start your question with ‘Do you think’ so this is personal view. First as with any good science you need to describe what you want to achieve. If it is to stop the spread of Covid19, you need to understand what Covid19 is and how it is spread. So it’s a novel virus but is similar to other coronaviruses. That gives us some understanding of this virus and we are not totally in the dark. It infects the lungs and airways and is spread by airborne moisture droplets in exhaled breath. So a mask could trap the virus if it was breathed in or stop it escaping if it was breathed out. Now we have two conditions to consider 1) stop the virus spreading from a infected person 2) protect you from being infected. Can the virus get through a mask. The blood cell is 70 times bigger than a virus, so they are small. The spacesuit respirators will trap out all viruses but the surgical mask types will not give you full protection. There is some debate at so how much virus protection they give. The larger the airborne droplets the more efficient the mask is. So masks are better at reducing the spread than preventing infection. Bear in mind you may not be showing any symptoms. The big problem is how people wear masks and what happens to the mask when it is taken off. As soon as the mask is put on, it should be treated as contaminated (after all that is what you want it do – trap out the virus), so no touching it, no fiddling with it, defiantly no taking it off to talk. Then there is physiological effect, if I pass you in the street do you feel safer if I wear a mask? That works the other way as well, do I feel safer if you wear a mask.

    • Photo: Anabel Martinez Lyons

      Anabel Martinez Lyons answered on 24 Apr 2020:

      Hi Lewis- currently, there is no governmental advice (at least in the UK) that says we should wear masks outside. As the other scientists have said washing your hands properly and regularly, and maintaining social distancing rules, are great ways to stop the spread of this coronavirus. It’s important we don’t all try to buy surgical masks online so that enough are available for people that really need them to not get sick at their jobs, like nurses, doctors and those coming into contact with potentially infected people regularly (like care home workers, and taxi drivers). Public Health England recommends face masks for NHS workers and in social care settings but does not advise healthy people to wear them outside at the moment. This may change though so keep a look out for the latest advice here: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus.

    • Photo: Freya Harrison

      Freya Harrison answered on 29 Apr 2020: last edited 29 Apr 2020 8:22 am

      There is a Professor of public health called Trisha Greenhalgh, who is doing research on this at the moment. She and her colleagues are working out whether it is helpful for us all to start wearing cloth masks (not surgical ones) when we go outside. There has been a lot of debate about this.
      —
      Overall, Trisha’s research suggests that while cloth masks don’t totally prevent transmission, they catch quite a lot of the bigger droplets that come out of our mouths and noses, and that if enough of us start wearing them, this should significantly slow transmission of the virus. This is assuming that everybody keeps washing their hands, doesn’t touch their face or the mask, and washes the mask after every use. This is new research and it’s still debated, but you can read more about it here: https://www.fast.ai/2020/04/13/masks-summary/
      —
      The other thing to think about with masks or any intervention to change our behaviour, is: how big is the benefit relative to the cost? I would personally say that there is no real cost to making a cloth mask, or wrapping a bandana around your face (as long as you don’t forget hand hygiene or think that masks means you can stop physical distancing etc.) so even if the mask only has a small positive effect on reducing transmission, it is worth using one.

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