I have had a box of the coveted N95 masks out in the porch from long before we heard of covid19. By any current measure, that makes me a professional mask wearer and someone whose opinion counts. Someone who must be listened to. Even though I don’t have a doctorate in maskology, or intend to pursue further studies, I know wearing an N95 mask will not protect others from your viruses.
In the world of covid professionals, my experience with N95 masks qualifies me as an informed skeptic. It’s from that backgrouncd I’ve sensed something about the whole mask wearing controversy rubs me wrong. It may also be the contradictory recommendations that have come from those “professionals” who are making policy; or it might be the naked partisanship that has taken over the debate; but most likely it’s because anecdotally, wearing the mask to protect others from the covid19 virus is silly on its face (pun intended).
All I need to prove this point is a chilly morning and some protective eyewear. Working in these conditions, the N95 mask wearer soon discovers they can no longer see. The moisture from their exhaled breath fogs up their eyewear because it escapes the edge of the mask under the eyes more easily then passing back through the masks dense filtering fibers.
The masks are designed to protect the user while inhaling and the suction from the inhaled breath tends to seal the mask to the face. This effect is beneficial in protecting the lungs from particulates but makes breathing more difficult, especially during times of exertion. The cloth masks are easier to breath through, since the material is less dense but are less effective then the N95’s at protecting the wearer, and of course, as with the N95 mask, less than worthless for protecting others.
There you have it. A clear eyed common sense analysis of the value of wearing masks. By design, they protect the wearer to a limited extent, but they are not designed to protect others. If I’m heading out to shovel wheat or work on a dusty project, the mask goes on; but if you’re asking me to wear it as a sugar pill for you, it won’t keep either one of us safer, and that’s a fact.
