“They’re not a great choice to use at all,” he adds. “They’re not designed to be worn more than once or cleaned,” he says. Jeremy Howard, a data scientist and cofounder of the campaigning organisation Masks4All, says you should really only wear one once. “There’s not a lot of data on the efficacy of cloth masks but they’re better than nothing.” How many times can you wear a disposable mask? “For the public, cloth masks are fine,” says Shivkumar. A study by researchers at the University of Edinburgh into different mask types found that the valves improved breathability for the wearer, but would not stop infectious matter being breathed out. And anyway, masks with valves – found on dust masks and antipollution cycling masks, for instance – are not thought to be effective at stopping the spread of Covid-19. The one that may provide maximum protection for the wearer, says Shivkumar, is a FFP3 respirator (a disposable shaped mask with a valve that filters air) “but we know that the production of them is more difficult and healthcare workers are not getting access to them, so it is important to reserve those for frontline workers who come into contact with Covid-19 patients”. Outdoors, if you’re staying away from people, it’s fine, but in large crowds you should wear one.” Which type of mask should you choose? “I’ve seen pictures of lots of people running alongside the Thames in London, and in that scenario I would suggest you wear one. Do you need to wear one while exercising outdoors? McKee says not, but Shivkumar says possibly. The risk is indoors, in crowded situations, where the air is not being filtered out, and particularly where people are speaking loudly, shouting or singing.” People should wear them at the supermarket and while out shopping, says Maitreyi Shivkumar, a virologist and lecturer in molecular biology at De Montfort University, and anywhere you’re “likely to come into closer contact with people you can’t really get away from”. “The risk of transmitting the virus outside is low. With so many of us still coming to terms with this “new normal”, we asked McKee and other experts to answer some common questions. There is still stuff that is going to get out, but you are reducing that risk.” “What you’re doing,” McKee says, “is catching all the little droplets that are coming out of your mouth before they can get into the atmosphere, when they can dry out and become very small and float around as an aerosol. We’re not talking about protecting yourself by wearing one, but about reducing the risk to other people.” Wearing a mask is just one measure, along with handwashing and social distancing, to try to contain Covid-19, and seems particularly useful for stopping people who have unwittingly contracted the virus, but who are not showing symptoms, from spreading (if you do have symptoms, you should be self-isolating, not going out wearing a mask). Photograph: Image taken by Mayte Torres/Getty ImagesĪ mask, says Martin McKee, a professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, is a “means of reducing the propensity of someone who has got Covid-19 to spread it to others. Masks are most effective indoors … although they aren’t mandatory for children in many circumstances.
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