[imagesource:here]

There is nothing about the coronavirus that is simple.

Those studying the virus talk about its many complexities, and do so often, and there is no simple, 100% effective way to ensure that it doesn’t spread from one person to another.

It doesn’t help that there has been some confusing and contradictory messaging from the World Health Organisation (WHO), and our own Department of Health, but we’re at the stage now where the effectiveness of wearing a face mask shouldn’t be up for debate.

Really, it isn’t, yet some folks (here’s looking at you, Bobby) seem to think that the simple act of wearing a face mask is a massive infringement on their rights, or an assault on their masculinity, or any of the other reasons that lead to daily arguments on Facebook neighbourhood groups.

To be clear, we are talking about wearing a face mask, and not a clear plastic face shield – we have made our thoughts on that clear already.

For a scientific approach, let’s go to Reuters‘ report on a British study released yesterday:

Population-wide face mask use could push COVID-19 transmission down to controllable levels for national epidemics, and could prevent further waves of the pandemic disease when combined with lockdowns, according to a British study…

The research, led by scientists at the Britain’s Cambridge and Greenwich Universities, suggests lockdowns alone will not stop the resurgence of the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, but that even homemade masks can dramatically reduce transmission rates if enough people wear them in public.

“Our analyses support the immediate and universal adoption of face masks by the public,” said Richard Stutt, who co-led the study at Cambridge.

You can read that report in full here, and we should point out that other experts not involved in the study have their concerns.

Dr Ellen-Brooks Pollock, a Bristol University infectious disease modelling expert, says that whilst face masks do work, the impact of wearing them may be less than the above study suggests.

Still, she agrees that they do, to some degree at least, work.

With a healthcare sector that is under immense pressure, and the situation set to worsen in the coming weeks and months, a surge in infections in South Africa is inevitable.

No matter how big or small the impact, every single measure should be taken to reduce the chances of spreading the virus.

Earlier in the week, a CNBC report was widely shared, with the headline ‘Asymptomatic spread of coronavirus is ‘very rare,’ WHO says’.

Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, said that “from the data we have, it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual”.

Those who talk about wearing a face mask like some sort of oppression jumped at the chance to show that unless you’re symptomatic, wearing one is unnecessary, but it wasn’t long before Van Kerkhove was in front of the cameras again, clarifying what she said.

This via Vox:

“I wasn’t stating a policy of WHO or anything like that,” she said. “We do know that some people who are asymptomatic, or some people who do not have symptoms, can transmit the virus on.”

Van Kerkhove said she’d been referencing a handful of preprints — studies that have not yet been peer-reviewed — and added, “I think that it’s a misunderstanding to state asymptomatic transmission globally is very rare.”

Still, the damage had been done, and many public health experts were quick to criticise the WHO for being so reckless:

Andy Slavitt, former acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, tweeted, “This is such a mistake that I’m not sure how or if WHO pronouncements can be covered now.”

…“It’s a very serious mistake to interpret this to mean that you don’t need masks in public,” says Eric Topol, a research methods expert and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute.

The study we covered up top, by Britain’s Cambridge and Greenwich Universities, dealt with exactly this, finding that if people wear masks whenever they are in public, it is twice as effective at reducing the R-value (the average number of people that one infected person will pass the disease on to) than if masks are only worn after symptoms appear.

A number of peer-reviewed studies have shown that presymptomatic people (people who have been exposed to a disease and infected but are not yet showing symptoms) often infect others before they feel sick.

Finally, some words from Tara Smith, professor of epidemiology at Kent State University:

Smith recommends wearing masks any time you’re in close contact with others for an extended period of time, especially in indoor spaces. …But Smith adds, “Masks alone are limited protection — combine them also with maintaining physical distance as much as possible.”

Wear a face mask when in public, wash your hands and follow other hygiene practices, and know that you’re putting yourself and others at risk with social gatherings.

It’s common sense, although that often seems to be in short supply these days.

[sources:reuters&vox]