Viruses can be transmitted from an actively infected person to others by the ejection of droplets of respiratory secretions.
Gravity acts on the potentially infectious droplets of secretions (aka snot) and makes them fall.
The viruses are contained within these potentially infections droplets. They are not freely floating about or “airborne”.
Breathing normal air will not expose anyone to infection or illness.
People in close proximity to those who eject these potentially infectious droplets could inhale them and thereby become exposed to and infected by the virus.
The pores in masks are smaller than the viruses but can contain the potentially infectious droplets.
Wearing a mask can reduce the ejection of infectious droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes and could also reduce the chance of someone inhaling them when in close proximity to the one who is ejecting them.
The face covering could also reduce the possibility of transferring such infectious droplets from contaminated surfaces to the face and into the respiratory tract as washing one’s hands also does.
In general, wearing masks when not ill and ejecting potentially infectious droplets or in close proximity to infected people who are ejecting them by coughing or sneezing serves little or no purpose.
People should also consider the potential personal risks of being exposed to the Sars Cov 2 virus and its naturally evolving “variants”.
For almost all relatively healthy people a viral infection causes the symptoms we call “colds”: or “flu” and no serious problems.
People whose general health, resilience and immune responsiveness are seriously impaired can develop a serious illness that we used to call Atypical Viral Pneumonia (now rebranded as Covid-19) and should avoid contact with infectious droplets of respiratory tract secretions that might transmit infectious organisms of any kind.
Wearing a mask or otherwise covering one’s nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing can definitely reduce the transmission of infectious droplets that might effect other people.
Wearing a mask when there is little possibility of being exposed to people ejecting these potentially infectious droplets seems rather unnecessary, uncomfortable, inconvenient and perhaps dumb.
Ordinary Kiwi said:
Viruses can be transmitted from an actively infected person to others by the ejection of droplets of respiratory secretions.
Gravity acts on the potentially infectious droplets of secretions (aka snot) and makes them fall.
The viruses are contained within these potentially infections droplets. They are not freely floating about or “airborne”.
Breathing normal air will not expose anyone to infection or illness.
People in close proximity to those who eject these potentially infectious droplets could inhale them and thereby become exposed to and infected by the virus.
The pores in masks are smaller than the viruses but can contain the potentially infectious droplets.
Wearing a mask can reduce the ejection of infectious droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes and could also reduce the chance of someone inhaling them when in close proximity to the one who is ejecting them.
The face covering could also reduce the possibility of transferring such infectious droplets from contaminated surfaces to the face and into the respiratory tract as washing one’s hands also does.
In general, wearing masks when not ill and ejecting potentially infectious droplets or in close proximity to infected people who are ejecting them by coughing or sneezing serves little or no purpose.
People should also consider the potential personal risks of being exposed to the Sars Cov 2 virus and its naturally evolving “variants”.
For almost all relatively healthy people a viral infection causes the symptoms we call “colds”: or “flu” and no serious problems.
People whose general health, resilience and immune responsiveness are seriously impaired can develop a serious illness that we used to call Atypical Viral Pneumonia (now rebranded as Covid-19) and should avoid contact with infectious droplets of respiratory tract secretions that might transmit infectious organisms of any kind.
Wearing a mask or otherwise covering one’s nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing can definitely reduce the transmission of infectious droplets that might effect other people.
Wearing a mask when there is little possibility of being exposed to people ejecting these potentially infectious droplets seems rather unnecessary, uncomfortable, inconvenient and perhaps dumb.