Advice on mask-wearing to protect against Covid-19

As reported on The Guardian website today, The Royal Society for Data Evaluation and Learning for Viral Epidemics (DELVE) has just published a report which comes out in favour of face masks being worn by the general public:

https://rs-delve.github.io/reports/2020/05/04/face-masks-for-the-general-public.html

 

Coronavirus: hamster research shows effectiveness of masks ‘huge’ in Covid-19 battle, Hong Kong scientists say

"Hamsters placed in adjoining cages with infected subjects were infected at a 66.7 per cent rate; the introduction of a barrier saw the percentage drop to 16.7‘

It shows very clearly that if infected hamsters or humans … put on masks, they actually protect other people,’ HKU’s Dr Yuen Kwok-yung says"

Edit: I was wondering how they made hamsters wearing masks, but it went like this:

"in their experiment, partitions made of surgical masks were set up between cages in an isolated facility, with an infected hamster on one side, and three healthy hamsters on the other. A fan was then placed in between to make sure the virus would “transmit” between cages."

So transmission might drop even more with a close fitted mask on the face?

 

Why has no one warned us that rodents can transmit covid-19?

We're surrounded by rodents.

I seem to misremember that no one in the UK is more than 2 meters from a rodent at all times, on average.

 

Has anyone determined yet the minimum safe distance to be away from someone without a mask who is talking to you? I just made the mistake of going outside and encountering a neighbour who wanted to talk to me, at length. Managed a good twelve feet, mostly, but we were having to speak correspondingly louder...

I've noticed that discipline seems to have broken down on social distancing in a lot of people on the street, where I briefly ventured (and wish I hadn't)...

 

Apparently the thinking is now that you're unlikely to catch it from someone else in the open air just by walking past them - could that be a contributing factor?

 

The World Health Organisation have updated their guidance on face masks for members of the public:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/05/who-changes-advice-medical-grade-masks-over-60s

 

Thanks, @JaneL
WHO has also posted a new video: How to wear a medical mask

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adB8RW4I3o4

 

So, does anyone have tips for how to choose from the many different brands of disposable masks online? Thanks!

Edit: Looking to buy some disposable "medical grade" masks, just in case we ever need them, and I'm not even sure what "medical grade" means.

 

So it conflicts with U.K. advice which says t shirt/face covering (single layer) is enough:

“UK under pressure to rethink face masks in wake of WHO advice”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...e-to-rethink-face-masks-in-wake-of-who-advice

 

When WHO say “medical masks“ for those over 60/vulnerable to illness, do they mean “surgical masks“?

 

Yes. This is the WHO definition of a medical mask from their latest guidance document regarding this (published 5th June):

https://apps.who.int/iris/rest/bitstreams/1279750/retrieve

 

Hi @ahimsa - see above the answer to your question about medical masks. I can’t advise about brands but it’s important to make sure that the face mask carries the appropriate certification. The following advice is also from the WHO document I posted above:

 

I am not sure, but I assume that if you purchase your masks from a registered pharmacy then they would only be supplying brands that have the correct certification. Currently, that is comparatively expensive to do in the UK, compared to sourcing them from Ebay or Amazon, which may be an indicator that many brands do not meet the high medical standard required for full PPE.

 

Yeah the box of surgical masks I got before are from some random seller on eBay. I don’t think they have any certification.

 

I'm getting worried about the 40-60 seconds for washing your hands now ...

 

Seems like some familiar names are against wearing masks

https://twitter.com/user/status/1276249477368733699


https://twitter.com/user/status/1276427878377361408

 

Free entertainment from those clowns again. Clare Geralda complaining about someone being patronising, SW complaining about someone being over-certain and unquestioning. I'm going to have to start ordering my irony meters in bulk if they carry on like this.

Where are Sharpe and White? They can usually be relied upon to put their feet in it on Twitter at a time like this. Most disappointing.

 

Well that has convinced me to wear a mask ...

 

Facemasks save lives, according to a Japanese study:

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/sci...nese-study-says#click=https://t.co/8Zutxaa6Y5