Do face masks help with the Coronavirus? A not so obvious answer. by Alex Yang

The short answer is YES, most definitely, during the coronavirus epidemic, always wear a face mask when you go outside. Make sure you wear the right face mask for the occasion during the coronavirus outbreak.

The long answer for why face masks helps with the coronavirus outbreak is a bit complicated. Read on.

COVID-19 is transmitted by airborne viral particles and viral droplets on surfaces

COVID-19, a disease caused by coronavirus, spreads mostly from person-to-person contact through viral particles ejected through the mouth by coughing, sneezing, laughing, singing, talking or simply breathing. People within about 6 feet can be infected if these particles reach their mouth, nose or eye.

If you touch a surface that an infected person has touched and you touch your mouth, nose or eye, you could be infected. That is why it is super important to cover these areas of your body when you are out in the public. A face mask, when worn properly, will definitely help prevent infection.

Of course face masks don't fix everything. If you are going around touching poles on the subway and then rubbing your eyes while wearing a N95 NIOSH certified fulled sealed face mask, you are probably still going to get coronavirus. Have common sense.

We need to flatten the curve against the coronavirus outbreak

This point has been many times in the media, if the number of people who are infected rises too quickly, all the hospital in all the states and countries will be overwhelmed. If we can slow down the rate of transmission, then we can give the medical facilities a chance to treat the severe case patients and greatly reduce the mortality rate.

(Image: © CDC)

However, a less clear point is how to flatten the curve correctly. Let look at two sets of data between China, where the virus first started and where the situations is currently under control versus the U.S., where the situation is worsening.

Between January 25th to February 10th, it look the virus 16 days to grow from 1K confirmed infections to 40K infections in China.

(Image courtesy of bing.com/covid)

By contrast, in the United States it only took 10 days! That's a 60% difference. It's a 600% difference if you factor in exponential growth rates.

What accounts for the difference, well many things, but here's a picture of a supermarket line in China, taken on January 24, 2020, just before confirmed infections went over 1000.

And here's picture of a US supermarket on March 13th.

Notice the BIG difference? Now of course, masks are not the only differences between the measures the two countries undertook to control the virus. But here's the thing, we are not going to be barricading people inside apartment buildings here in the US. So do the next best thing: WEAR A FREAKING MASK!

We need to get everyone to take it seriously, wearing a mask is Social Proof

Properly wearing the right face mask will slow down the rate of transmission. Face masks will protect you and your loved ones by reducing the chances that people catch and spread the coronavirus.

But there is actually a more important goal that we need to achieve if we wish to stop the epidemic, and I believe this is super important:

There are still not enough people taking this thing seriously right now.

People still not social distancing.

People making physical or verbal contact with each other in close quarters.

People gathering in large group or events.

Now imagine if you were one of those people and everywhere you looked, in your normal life, on TV, everywhere, people were wearing masks. Wouldn't you start to change your mind? Wouldn't you start taking precautions and take active steps to limit the possible spread of the coronavirus?

If you are convinced, help us spread the word, share this article on social media with hashtag #maskthevirus.