Face masks, the truth.

During this time of COVID-19, face masks save lives.  But despite this, there are people who want to have an excuse not to wear them. I understand that people find covering their face to be inconvenient, and a tightly applied face mask can make some feel as if it is harder to breathe.  I wear a mask when seeing patients, my wife wears one which is even more claustrophobic when she is carrying out aerosol generating procedures.  And when we wear it, it is to reduce the risk of us catching COVID-19.

But when I wear a mask if I am cycling along a cycle path, or if I have gone into a shop, it is not to protect me, but more to protect others.  And that is the strength of masks.  Nations where wearing masks are commonplace have lower rates of COVID transmission and those who are against masks forget this fact.

Masks are not perfect.  They are no substitute for good hand hygiene (don’t wear gloves just clean your hands often) and keeping your distance from others.  Outdoors, if a cloud of COVID has been generated the wind will disperse it.  Indoors, this is not as likely, especially in shops.  A face mask offers some protection from COVID, but more importantly, if you have COVID and are unaware, it greatly reduces the chance of you spreading it.

It does not have to be a surgical face mask.  It can be a scarf, it can be a snood, it can even be a KKK hood.  But it needs to filter what you breathe out.  So no holes cut out in the middle, and no string/net masks.

There are dangers to wearing one, the danger being that if offers a false sense of security for those who forget that it is worn more to protect others rather than protecting yourself, meaning that people may forget to social distance.  And the other danger is that it can increase the chance that you touch your face, a big no no when it comes to COVID.

For some, wearing a mask can cause psychological stress due to the feeling of it restricting your breathing.  And for those, I understand that it is hard, and on occasion impossible to wear one.  But I have cycled up steep hills wearing a mask.  When I do so, it causes me some mild issues, but I can still do it.  And I am no fitness freak (I am lucky if I can cycle eight miles in one stretch).

If you literally do not care if others die of this disease, then fine, do not wear a mask,  but if you do, wear one.