Should you wear a mask during coronavirus? Experts are split.

To wear a mask or not to wear a mask?

As coronavirus races toward its peak in Massachusetts, the usefulness of wearing face masks to protect against COVID-19 remains a key question — and medical experts and researchers are split on the answer.

Jeremy Howard, distinguished research scientist at the University of San Francisco and founder of the fast.ai research institute, says data shows wearing a mask could reduce the spread of the virus by upwards of 50%. He cited “universal mask usage in public” as one of four steps — including widespread testing and contract tracing, and rigorous quarantining — that Hong Kong, Mongolia, Taiwan and South Korea took to flatten the curve of their outbreaks.

People “should be wearing masks when they go out in public, anytime there’s a chance they could be within six feet with someone who is not part of their immediate family,” Howard said.

Howard advocated for people to use homemade masks out of materials like fabric and T-shirts, and not medical-grade ones needed by frontline workers already facing severe shortages of personal protective equipment.

“Universal mask usage is cheap, it’s easy, and we can do it ourselves,” Howard said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci said on CNN Tuesday that the White House coronavirus task force would discuss recommending broad use of masks in the United States. President Trump said during his press briefing “there’s certainly no harm to it” if people want to wear masks. But he called on folks to “wear a scarf” so medical masks can continue to go to hospitals in need.

Public health officials across the globe have offered mixed messages on the usefulness of masks in preventing a person from contracting coronavirus. The World Health Organization advises wearing a mask if you are coughing or sneezing — COVID-19 is most commonly spread through respiratory droplets — or if you are a healthy person caring for an infected person.

Davidson Hamer, a Boston University infectious diseases specialist, said there is “limited evidence that wearing a mask is going to be protective.”

“Somebody who’s infected and shedding the virus, coughing and sneezing, it’s definitely a good idea for that person to wear a mask,” Hamer said. “Theoretically, there might be a little bit of protection from a mask for somebody who’s not infected. It’s definitely helpful for someone who is infected to decrease the spread.”

Boston University epidemiologist Robert Horsburgh said first responders and medical workers need to be wearing masks to prevent themselves from being coughed or sneezed on by someone who is infected.

But “it’s not as critical for the general population,” Horsburgh said. “Social distancing is so much more important.”

Experts cautioned people not to touch their faces to adjust the masks — which could potentially spread the virus anyway.

Food delivery worker Daniel Pere, who wore a black cotton mask picking up a salad in the South End, told the Herald Tuesday he’s been wearing his mask for three weeks “because of coronavirus, for my health.”

Mary Beth Collins of Boston wore a mask out for the first time Tuesday when she stepped out on a lunch break:

“I feel safer,” Collins said. “I don’t plan on being out long, but I just feel like it gives me some protection.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/347yCqE