Is it effective to wear the mask if those around you don't wear it?

Masks or masks are part of the package of effective measures to avoid getting the coronavirus or spreading it to others. Within that package, there are also COVID-19 vaccines, frequent hand washing and physical distancing. At this time of the pandemic, there were some changes in the obligation to wear masks or masks.

However, even experts in infectology, epidemiology and public health believe that it is necessary to wear masks today - from the nose to the chin - even when others are not protected because the risk of getting the virus is reduced.

In the United States, public health experts reacted with dismay to the ruling of a federal judge that overturned the obligation to wear masks for passengers on planes, buses and trains. They are concerned that such a decision may erode the authority role of public health agencies and interfere with their ability to respond to health emergencies.

The Florida judge's ruling was issued less than a week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had extended the obligation to wear masks until 3 May. The government of President Joe Biden announced that it will appeal the decision of the judge who annulled the mandate of masks on public transport.

The mask began to be used in different countries of the West between February and March 2020 when the pandemic began to hit hard and the routes of transmission of the disease were not yet clear. Over time, it was confirmed that the coronavirus is transmitted both in droplets and in aerosols that are emitted by people who are already infected when talking, screaming, or singing.

It has also been determined that 1 in 4 people with COVID-19 has no symptoms. Therefore, that person may not show symptoms and infect others without realizing that they are transmitting the infection. When someone is in closed spaces with other people, there is a greater risk that infected people - both those who have and those who do not show symptoms - will spread and thus the coronavirus continues to spread.

When the obligation to wear masks is released, experts from different disciplines are concerned. Dr. Lakshmi Ganapathi, a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, noted that the sentence coincides with a recent increase in cases of COVID nationwide in the United States. Because many people use home testing or self-testing, not all cases of COVID-19 are being reported. Therefore, today there could be an underreporting of the number of people with the infection.

One problem is that there are still low booster dose rates among older people and other vulnerable groups, including people with low incomes who rely heavily on buses and trains for transportation.

If people were to be without masks at this time from people, vulnerable groups would be more exposed to acquiring the infection. In addition, there is still no vaccine for very young children. According to Ganapathi, relying on immunity given by previous infections and vaccines for protection may be overly optimistic, as new emerging variants could evade immunity.

From the communication commission of the Argentine Society of Infectology (SADI), the infectiologist Leda Guzzi, said in a dialogue with Infobae: “At this time of the coronavirus pandemic, the mask remains a useful tool for the prevention of COVID-19 and other diseases, such as flu, which circulate most during autumn and winter. We continue to recommend the use of the mask in indoor spaces.”

It is known today that masks or masks work best when everyone around a person also has one in place. This is because when an infected person wears a mask, a large percentage of the infectious particles he exhales are trapped, thus stopping the spread of the virus at its source. And when there are fewer viral particles floating around the room, the masks worn by others are likely to block escaped particles.

But there is also a lot of evidence that shows that masks protect the wearer, even when others are not wearing a mask. The degree of protection depends on the quality of the mask and its fit. Medical experts recommend using N95, KN95 or KF94 masks to protect against the subvariant Ómicron BA.2, which is now predominant and more infectious than the previous variants.

Other variables, such as the time of exposure to an infected person and the quality of ventilation in a space, also affect the risk of getting the coronavirus. In most aircraft, for example, cabin air usually passes through high-efficiency particulate filters (HEPA) that are quite good at reducing virus transmission. But that doesn't completely eliminate the risk.

In a modeling study published in December 2021, researchers found that passengers sitting in the same row or a row away from someone who had COVID-19 were still at high risk of becoming infected. On the other hand, wearing a mask reduced the risk of infection by 54%.

In addition, in closed environments, such as an airplane, it can be difficult to avoid a mixed group of vaccinated and unvaccinated people, symptomatic or asymptomatic, who can transmit the coronavirus at different levels. And the flight may not even be the riskiest part of the trip.

Air circulation can operate at low power or be completely switched off during boarding and disembarking at the airport. Time spent in the closed environment of the airport can also increase the risk of exposure to coronavirus. For that reason, it can be beneficial to wear a mask.

In addition, other means of transport, such as buses and trains, are also areas of risk of contagion if a person is exposed to others who do not wear masks. “I know everyone is talking about airplanes, but I would say that buses are probably the riskiest, then trains and then planes, in order from highest to lowest,” Linsey Marr, of Virginia Technological University, an expert in airborne virus transmission, told The New York Times.

Different studies that show that wearing a mask protects against COVID-19. A study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that a standard surgical mask protected the wearer from only about 7.5% of the particles generated by a simulated cough. However, knotting the ties and tucking the sides of the medical mask reduces exposure by almost 65%. Covering the surgical mask with a cloth mask, a technique known as a double mask, reduced exposure to simulated cough particles by 83 percent.

A Virginia Tech study looked at the effectiveness of homemade masks, surgical masks, and face shields in protecting the wearer, based on the size of the virus particles. Research showed that most masks could block very large particles, such as those from a sneeze. However, when researchers analyzed the smallest particles in aerosol form, which are the hardest to block, protection ranged from almost zero with a regular cloth mask to 30% protection with a surgical mask.

Based on these results, the scientists concluded that a two-layer fabric mask made of a flexible and tight fabric, combined with a filter material (such as a coffee filter or surgical mask), could offer good protection, reducing 70% of the most penetrating particles and trapping 90% or more of the largest particles. They also found that straps or head loops created a better fit than ear loops.

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