Why wearing a mask protects against infection
Here’s an illustration (in words) why wearing a mask is for the general good and is not infringing upon anyone’s perceived “rights.”
This is a health/safety regulation. It’s the same reasoning behind not being able to enter a pool before showering, not being able to return intimate garments to a store, why dentists sterilize instruments in between patients, why you are required to use child car seats and seatbelts.
How would you like it if someone decided it was against their perceived right not to take a shower before entering the pool you want to swim in? Remember the strong chloramine smell that some indoor pools have? That is a byproduct of chorine working on the invisible “cloud” of traces of human perspiration, fecal matter, etc. that you are now swimming in.
The same thing applies to walking around without a mask. More is being uncovered by scientists about this novel virus every day, which is why advice seems to have changed since January. Thankfully there are people “on” this and people who have experience with pandemics and infectious disease.
Researchers have shown that the “cloud” of virus left behind by each person’s breathing and talking (and of course by coughing and sneezing) lingers in the air at concentrations great enough to infect other people, for 15 minutes or longer. This applies even to the respiration and speaking of people who do not know they are infected…called asymptomatic carriers. Now how would you like to walk through those clouds of infection as you do your essential shopping? You do your social distancing, but you don’t have any way of knowing what people have left behind.
Your own mask is to protect other people, theirs is to protect you. Hopefully we are all more concerned about other people’s health and safety than we are about confusing the issue of “rights.” Don’t forget that people who are out shopping may be responsible for others, and some may have compromised immunity. Those of us who are respectfully wearing our masks are doing so with thoughts of those people in mind.
And just a word about “alternative medicine” and other ideas about the virus, how it originated, “herd immunity” and whether this is all a hoax. Please rely upon reliable scientific sources for your information. There are many sources of disinformation circulating, and many people spend their good time disproving them for our benefit. Check and re-check your sources. Look for backup information that has been peer reviewed.
Most alternative medicine has evolved over generations, and some of it is effective…in fact, I’m a big fan. But now is not the time. If you want to experiment with your own health, please make sure it will not affect anyone else before you do. That means keeping yourself and your loved ones healthy and out of the way of possible infection as much as possible.
