Advice on mask-wearing to protect against Covid-19

Thank you @Mij. I’m sorry to hear how bad the situation is with care homes in Canada. It sounds like the same thing is happening in many countries around the world, it’s just so tragic.

 

2 weeks ago, the city of Jena in Eastern Germany made wearing community masks mandatory. For 9 days they haven't had any new diagnosed infections.

So far that's just a correlation and there have been other measures, too. But it shows that it's possible to make people go along with it.

The town's mayor, translation with deepl:

"We did not introduce them in one fell swoop, but with the consideration that enough masks must be available. We knew that the government would never be able to supply 110,000 inhabitants with masks. Priority was given to clinics, doctors' surgeries, physiotherapy and nursing homes. Therefore we started a campaign: Dear Jenaers, please sew your own masks. Have a look at the instructions on Youtube. We will get enough material and show you how to clean the masks so that they can be used again and again. The concept worked out.

[...]

Initially, the obligation applied to service providers who were unable to maintain the distance of one and a half metres when exercising their profession. On 6 April it was extended to the population. However, only local transport and supermarkets were affected. We regarded this as a test phase - and it went well. In the meantime, the obligation also applies in companies if they do not have a hygiene concept and cannot comply with the distance rules.

[...]

We have not had to register a single new infection in Jena over the past nine days. Whether there is a direct connection to the obligation to wear a mask - I want to be careful. But I am sure that it has made a positive contribution."

 

What is the basis for comparison though? That article doesn't really provide any data on infection and testing rates before the interventions.

To put things in perspective, our state of 1.7 million has had 7 cases in one week (of over 3600 tests, testing rate is increasing). This is one new case per ~250,000. The same rate of cases in Jena would be 0.43 cases in a week (or 0.55 cases over 9 days).

Most people here are not wearing masks, nor strictly adhering to social isolation or distancing - I've seen many people out exercising and in parks.

 

True, it hasn't been really studied and compared to previous numbers. But I think it serves as a first "experiment" for Germany on how to put the measure of mandatory mask wearing into place.

As of now, it's only "strongly recommended" nationwide to wear one in public transportation and stores.

 

If Jena is typical of Germany I estimate they would have been having 20-40 new cases a week.

 

I’m starting to notice more people in suburban Sydney wearing masks & not just sick people going to get tested.

Unfortunately there has been a case of someone hiding their identity behind a mask to commit crime.

 

The graph with the purple bars shows new cases per day in Thuringia (the federal state where Jena is located) https://www.mdr.de/thueringen/corona-statistik-zahlen-grafiken-aktuell-100.html
population of Thuringia 2,136,752
popukation of Jena 111,407

 

I don't know how "typical" Jena is, it's a university town (many students), doesn't have an airport and is also in Eastern Germany, that so far seems to have less cases than the very West and South.

I hope they are collecting further data.

 

In the UK, the news we are having more positive coverage about masks and mask wearing.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1251170098074845184


https://twitter.com/user/status/1250829033127976960

 

tl;dr

(Jena)
Total cases: 155
Active cases: 139

 

Yes, we don't really have a well comparable place even in Thuringia. Erfurt and Weimar did not start with so many cases.
The district Greiz had similar case numbers in the beginning but is a rural area. The town seat is most affected there (town 135 cases, 20.524 inhabitants, district 285 cases, 98.159 inhabitants, unfortunately still rising).

Nevertheless Jena has done something very well. Even if it is not only the masks, they seem to play a role?

As far as I know, there were no restrictions in Jena concerning being outside. You were allowed to lie in the park and go hiking in the surroundings of the town as long as you kept the contact restrictions.
Here is a website where you can watch the daily number of cases in Thuringia: https://www.superillu.de/corona-faelle-thueringen-die-aktuellen-zahlen

 

The Royal Society of Medicine (UK) COVID-19 Series, Episode 6:

Policymaking on masks for the general public: evidence-based or eminence-based medicine?

Webinar, Tue 21 Apr 2020 from 12:30pm to 1:00pm

https://www.rsm.ac.uk/events/rsm-studios/2019-20/pen65/



Edited to add:

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_boKujq0HRIyFp3ihYU7oHQ

 

Forcing all travellers to wear certified masks on planes and in airports indefinitely will do much to control future outbreaks - including influenza and other 'mild' respiratory infections. Look at the distribution patterns around the world and it is clear that air travel patterns are a key difference why New York and London are suffering so much more than say, Australia or New Zealand. Remember that China blocked flights into China, but placed no restrictions on flights out of China, including Wuhan - this was key to it's spread elsewhere.

We keep hearing about how 'Coronavirus' will change society forever, yet we won't implement control measures like this?

 

I guess we know the answer to that question. Evidence-based medicine was a huge mistake. It has huge potential benefits but has gigantic flaws that essentially left the door open for the worst quackery medicine ever produced.

 

Sadiq khans mentions face coverings in his latest email! Scarves etc

subject: keeping Londoners safe

 

This was today, does somebody know what was said?

edit: by the way Jena, the town which is using masks, still without new cases, in the rurarl district nearby which startet with similiar number of cases, new cases still rising.

edit 2 In Germany we speak with virologists about things like masks and they try to explain the evidence without making a hype about evidence based medecin, they just explain, what seems reliable and what are rather assumptions and change their oponion when new interesting papers are out or were found

 

But the NHS might not need quite so many supplies if people wore face masks?
Better not have speed limits on the roads because it would slow down ambulances.

 

*Sigh*...

 

In Germany there were the same discussions and worries but it changed.

"The Federal Government has so far left it at an urgent recommendation people should wear face masks on buses, trains and in shops. 10 federal states are now going further and making the mask compulsory, no compulsory in Brandenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia and Niedersachsen."
https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/corona-maskenpflicht-101.html

edit: "Both the recommendation of the Federal Government and all regulations of the federal states deal with the wearing of simple face protection. This can be a scarf or kerchief, but self-sewn or purchased breathing masks are also permitted. The most important thing is that they cover the mouth and nose and that the wearer observes the correct application." translated by deepl