The CDC now recommends the wearing of face coverings:
CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.
Many state and local governments have now started implementing a mandatory face covering policy in public settings. My city of San Francisco recently announced a new policy at the end of next week which goes into effect this week:
The San Francisco Department of Public Health, in coordination with other Bay Area health departments, is requiring residents to cover their nose and mouth with a face covering, such as a bandana, scarf, towel, or other piece of cloth or fabric, when leaving home in many situations. These include doctor appointments, grocery shopping, pharmacy visits, and riding on public transit, among others.
This likely comes as no surprise to anyone as the face covering issue has been discussed widely over the past few weeks. The following is information about face coverings that I HAVE NOT seen discussed but which is hidden in the text of many of the policies. I found these in San Francisco’s Public Health Emergency Order:
- The first deals with children and I suspect many parents may have already been aware of but which I have not heard mentioned in any of the news stories on face coverings:
This Order includes certain exceptions. For instance, this Order does not require that any child aged twelve years or younger wear a Face Covering and recommends that any child aged two years or younger should not wear one because of the risk of suffocation.
- The other deals with the types of masks some folks are wearing and thinking that they are complying and protecting others when they aren’t:
Note that any mask that incorporates a one-way valve (typically a raised plastic cylinder about the size of a quarter on the front or side of the mask) that is designed to facilitate easy exhaling is not a Face Covering under this Order and is not to be used to comply with this Order’s requirements. Valves of that type permit droplet release from the mask, putting others nearby at risk.
In the picture included in this diary, the mask on the left is an example of one of these masks with a one-way valve on it. In this case it is an N100 mask. Some N95 masks have valves and some do not, and I have seen other masks for sale and that folks are wearing that also have these valves on them.
I know folks are thinking that everyone knows that folks aren’t supposed to be buying up any surgical or N95 masks because they are needed by healthcare providers, however, many of us in the west have old masks that we had obtained during the wildfires when our air was unbreathable without risk of lung damage. I personally have several N95 masks from the fires which were opened and could not be donated. Some of them have a valve and some do not.
Without reading the healthcare order I never would have known that the masks with the valves were not protecting others from my excretions. These masks are more comfortable to wear as they filter the air coming in but allow your breath an escape hatch without being forced through the mask itself.
These masks are great for the fires since it filters out the small, dangerous particles in the smoke from entering our lungs and allow easier breathing due to the one way valve allowing your exhalations an easy path away from your face. Unfortunately, they are the exact opposite of what is needed for this coronavirus crisis since they allow our unfiltered breath which possibly contains droplets with the SARS-CoV-2 virus in them out into the air around us and can infect others in our vicinity.
Bottom line is that if you have these masks you are not protecting others. You should keep these masks in your closet for the next set of fires or for your next paint job but not be wearing them in this crisis.
As I said earlier, I am guilty of this. I have worn my old N95 filtered mask to the store several times thinking that I was protecting others from myself in case I was infected and asymptomatically spreading the virus around. I feel horrible about this. I didn’t know but I kick myself because if I had thought about it I might have realized that it was allowing my breath out through the valve and that I should check if it might not be filtering it to the point where it was potentially allowing the virus to escape into the environment.
I am now wearing only my old non-valve N95 mask or a bandana or cloth face covering. I wish I knew sooner. Please let others know. I really wish this were being more widely communicated on the news. I have been extremely disappointed in our media’s coverage of this crisis. There is so much of it but so little, important information being conveyed. Instead we get more of the sensational stuff that is either about the latest distraction from Trump, touching human interest stories or very speculative stuff about treatments.
Thanks to user A Siegel for pointing out this excellent graphic on face coverings from user Yultron on Twitter:
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