The Science Behind the Mask Mandate
Photo from Mind Body Green
Bronwyn Rhoades
Due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus, Hamilton High School implemented a mask mandate that lasted two weeks. At the end of the two weeks, the school re-evaluated to determine that the mandate is no longer necessary. The mandate has sparked controversy about whether or not masks are effective. Especially during the frantic early months of the pandemic, there were legitimate questions about the effectiveness of masks. However, as more studies have occurred, it has become increasingly apparent that masks help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
A large amount of apprehension of masks may be based upon the fact that much of the information at the beginning of the pandemic was contradictory or misleading. With little to no studies completed prior to early 2020, experts were not certain if masks were effective about this particular virus yet. In this new age of social media, information and misinformation spread at a more rapid pace than ever before. It can be difficult to distinguish between factual information and a mere rumor.
With this being said, it has been over a year and a half since this pandemic began. Many studies have been completed in this time. The conclusive evidence from a large majority of these factual studies show that mask-wearing can prevent the spread of the coronavirus, especially in situations with unvaccinated individuals.
According to USCF.org, epidemiologist George Rutherford claims that scientists believed that masks should have been reserved for medical staff only at the early stages of the pandemic, and that cloth masks were not as effective as medical ones. Rutherford now believes that the importance of masks for medical professionals should not distract from the importance of everyone wearing masks. This specific situation displays the way that professionals have learned over the past year and a half. Another study outlined in the same article concluded that countries with policy or cultural standards in which masks are advised had lower death rates compared to countries with indifferent or negative views about masks.
In one situation, a man travelled from China to Toronto and tested positive for the coronavirus after landing. All 25 persons who were sitting near him on the flight, which required masks, tested negative for the virus.
One of many studies evaluating the efficiency of masks involved the amount of droplets released from the mouth into the air before and after the face was covered by a slightly damp washcloth. The results of this experiment showed that almost all of these droplets were blocked from entering the air after the mouth was covered. If these droplets contained the coronavirus, the “mask” would have greatly reduced the risk of surrounding individuals contracting the virus.
According to the New York Times, a study completed in Tennessee showed that areas that did not have a mask mandate had a higher hospitalization rate than those with a mask mandate. In the same article, the New York Times describes a situation in Switzerland where there was an outbreak at a hotel. The individuals that were infected were not wearing masks; individuals wearing masks were not infected. This situation shows that masks are effective even when surrounding individuals are not wearing masks.
The information above displays a small amount of the abundant, conclusive evidence that masks are effective in preventing the spread of the coronavirus. According to this evidence, the mask mandate at Hamilton High School had the potential to reduce the spread of Covid-19 if followed correctly.
Citations
Anfinrud, P., Stadnytskyi, V., Bax, C. E., & Bax, A. (2020). Visualizing Speech-Generated Oral Fluid Droplets with Laser Light Scattering. New England Journal of Medicine, 382(21), 2061-2063. doi:10.1056/nejmc2007800 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2007800
Parker-Pope, T. (2021, September 21). Does My Mask Protect Me if Nobody Else Is Wearing One? Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/article/covid-masks-protection-stats.html
Still Confused About Masks? Here's the Science Behind How Face Masks Prevent Coronavirus. (2021, October 08). Retrieved from https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-about-masks-heres-science-behind-how-face-masks-prevent
