are our saving hope.
There has been more controversy over a crazy piece of cloth covering ones face. I almost cannot fathom the amount of people who get so angry at people wearing masks calling us sheep, calling us weak, calling us scared, calling us fools.
I have a masters degree in Public Health and COVID-19 is a Public Health emergency, going back to my studies of viruses and other infectious diseasaes and the prevention of these diseases, I cannot help but to continue to be a fan of mask wearing.
For those who dont agree, who call me those names let me ask you a couple of questions
- Why is it that you teach your children to cover their mouth when they cough?
- Why do you try your best to turn away when you sneeeze?
- Why is it that you stay away from sick individuals when you know they are sick?
I am going to answer those questions… you teach your children to cover their cough because down deep you know and realize that germs could be coming out of your mouth when you cough, the same when you sneeze and you turn away from others. You stay away from sick individuals because you dont want to get sick. Am I off track?
Face coverings do exactly what you hands do when you cover a cough, the mask keeps your respiratory droplets in your face, yes some still will escape but the majority stays inside your mask. By wearing a mask you keep your hands clean because you are not using your hands to cover your cough and sneezes.
I will say that when COVID-19 began hitting the United states it was not in my own state yet but I was frantically searching for face coverings, you once could find these in the first aid section but not now, sold out everywhere and they were so expensive online it wasn’t worth it to me at the time, I made my own face mask.
Why was it that I was a fan of face coverings even before the CDC came out and said face coverings aren’t necessary, not effective?
During my studies in grad school I studied viruses, their reproductive traits, transmission modes and rates, as well as preventive measures (called virology and epidemiology). I learned that viruses which are spread through the air such as influenza, covid-19, SARS, MERS, TB… are highly contagious and spread quickly, social distancing and facial coverings are effective at slowing the spread, these disease processes spread like wildfire and a mask/ social distancing can slow it to a fire pit size fire, wild fire or fire pit…. hmmm I think I will choose the fire pit size.
Does a face covering and or social distancing prevent COVID-19 spread. No it does not, but what it does do is slow the spread, giving medical researchers and scientists enough time to come up with a vaccine and or medical treatment.
Does wearing a face mask allow you to not practice social distancing, no social distancing is still very effective at slowing the spread however in order to social distance the way it needs to be done we would have to shut everything down as we have seen done in the past and that is not healthy or good either.
Does wearing a face mask replace the need for good hand hygeine? No, absolutely not… hand-washing is the number one preventive measure against viral infectious diseases. When we touch surfaces with the virus living(yes they live on surfaces) we can transport that virus from that surface to our hands and subsequently to our face(eyes, nose, mouth) and then we have the virus inside our body for it to flourish and reproduce and make us very sick.
A virus is very smart its only purpose in life is to survive and reproduce, it doesn’t mean to make us sick but if that is the way it can live and reproduce so be it.
We live in a world where everyone thinks that they can be doctors because of google we have a bunch of Dr. Googles walking around giving their opinions and it really confuses people… what do you believe what can you believe?
I say only take recommendations from reputable Medcial and science sources
I am fortunate to have medical background in my studies that I knew facial coverings and social distancing was much needed in the flattening of the curve of COVID. I remember waiting anxiously for our governor to shut things down, I remember thinking why are you not putting us at a stay at home order, we have to get the spread under control. He put us at a stay at home order and everyone went crazy… he can’t do that, our health is not his concern it is against my civil rights… What about the right to be healthy and the right to feel safe what about that right? Our Governor did a fantastic job of keeping us informed on COVID-19 in our state and how we needed to keep the numbers as low as we can by staying safe at home and social distancing.
We re-opened and everything was great until he made a mask mandate… oh my word you would think that he was taking peoples lives away…. I could not understand what the big deal was, wear a mask, slow the spread, lets get through this together, and get back to a normal whether that be a new normal or our old normal(although I would much rather have a new normal). Once again I am going to say that I am thankful for a Governor who leads his state in prayer, who is generally concerned about his state and its people, I personally think he has done a fantastic job, he is surrounded by Public Health professionals who are telling him what is happening and things we can do to change the outcome. I am thankful for Governor Jim Justice, WV State Governor!
COVID-19 resides inside the respiratory droplet which flies through the air, some evaporate allowing the virus to fall on a surface where it sits and waits for someone to pick it up and transfer it to their respiratory system.
Asymptomatic means not presenting with symptoms this happens with nearly every infectious disease, carrying the infection spreading the infection and feeling fine.
Pre-symptomatic means before symptoms. When individuals contract the virus(the virus is inside the human host) it takes a few days for symptoms to appear. Studies have been done to prove that the viral load(the amount of virus) that is spread is highest during the pre-symptomatic phase of the virus.
This means that the person that has COVID-19 is the most contagious before they begin showing any symptoms… another reason masks are a good reason.
Whether you agree with masking or not, please refrain from calling people that do wear masks cowards, fools, crazy, sheep…. let them wear their masks what is it hurting you that they wear a mask? What is it hurting them that they are wearing a mask?
The way I see it is it hurts no one that I decide to wear a mask, it doesn’t negatively affect anyone including myself that I wear a mask but on the contrary it could have a positive impact on others and myself for wearing it.
I choose to wear a mask, I don’t do it 100% for others, I don’t do it 100% for myself I do it for everyone including myself because yes there are studies, scientific studies about masks offering protection from COVID-19 for the wearer as well as the population who are in contact with the mask wearer.
I encourage you to go to the following links to read about masks, I also encourage you to be careful when doing research, be sure to read the entire article don’t just pick out a phrase that goes along with your anti-mask stance, and be careful on what resources you are using… anyone can write an article but are they a trustworthy source do they know anything about epidemiology and viruses?
Good articles to read