Neither surgical nor cotton masks effectively filter SARS COV-2: Study

April 6, 2020 – outbreaknewstoday.com

MaskBoth surgical and cotton masks were found to be ineffective for preventing the dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 from the coughs of patients with COVID-19. A study conducted at two hospitals in Seoul, South Korea, found that when COVID-19 patients coughed into either type of mask, droplets of virus were released to the environment and external mask surface. A brief research report is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

During respiratory viral infection, face masks are thought to prevent transmission, leading health care experts to recommend their use during the COVID-19 pandemic. With a shortage of both N95 and surgical masks, which have been shown to prevent the spread of influenza virus, cotton masks have gained interest as a substitute. However, it is not known if surgical or cotton masks worn by patients with COVID-19 prevent contamination of the environment.
Full Article : outbreaknewstoday.com

7 thoughts on “Neither surgical nor cotton masks effectively filter SARS COV-2: Study”

  1. Face masks cannot stop healthy people getting Covid-19, says WHO

    By Ian Sample – Science editor
    April 07, 2020 – theguardian.com

    The World Health Organization has held off from recommending people wear face masks in public after assessing fresh evidence that suggested the items may help to contain the pandemic.

    The WHO guidance on healthy people wearing masks in public appears to conflict with recent advice from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which urged the US public to wear cloth face coverings in pharmacies, groceries and other public places where physical distancing can be hard to maintain.
    Full Article : theguardian.com

  2. So, I guess I can stop looking for Mask out here TC.. Thanks..

    Maybe we need to discuss PREVENTING, if not ELIMINATING this virus from our system. This Treatment (Hydroxychloroquine, Chloroquine) has its roots here in these Caribbean Islands, Alexander Hamilton’s The West Indian Treatment(Mauby).

    Hamilton and Yellow Fever: The Library Where It Happens

    -Hamilton, a prominent political figure, took another approach. “He followed what was called the ‘bark and wine cure,’ sometimes called the gentle cure or the West Indian treatment. That was quinine bark—which won’t help with yellow fever, although it does help with malaria, so I can understand why they made those connections—and diluted Madeira wine,” said Bowen. “On balance, the treatment plan that Hamilton subscribed to was probably better, if for no other reason than you’re not losing blood and ingesting toxic amounts of mercury.-

    https://infocus.nlm.nih.gov/2019/01/11/hamilton-and-yellow-fever-the-library-where-it-happens/

  3. The W.H.O. Leader is firmly in the pockets of Beijing. I think government that trust their instructions on this pandemic needs to give their head a shake.
    First they were saying don’t use face mask. It is not effective. Then came the 3 feet distancing converted to six feet. Then came the news that they did not want citizens using the I95 mask for fear of shortage to health care workers. Save masks for health care workers.
    Trini doctors were parroting their information telling citizens not to wear masks. Then they started just last week changing their tune, saying it’s okay to wear mask. Taiwan is producing a million masks per day all citizens are getting mask from children to the aged. They have one of the lowest rates. They are exporting 10 million masks to the US and Europe.

    Information received Minister of health must be contextualized. And what is best for Trinis should be verbalized. Cloth masks are an easy way of self protecting when in an environment with a lot of people.

  4. “In the study, which was just published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers looked at two hospitals in Seoul where COVID-19 patients wore either cotton or surgical masks. The researchers asked four patients with confirmed cases of COVID-19 to cough five times each into a petri dish while wearing no mask, a surgical mask, and a cotton mask. Then, the researchers analyzed the outer and inner surfaces of the mask. They found COVID-19 particles on every surface they tested.

    It’s hard to draw wide-ranging conclusions from such a small sample size. Other studies have shown that even rudimentary face masks caused a decrease in the spread of the flu virus in crowded settings. The researchers in those studies concluded that any mask is marginally better than wearing nothing at all. And in fact, even this study showed that wearing a cotton mask lessened the viral load of the particles that ended up in the petri dish.

    This new study from Korea reinforces the fact that we should be cautious about placing too much faith in cotton and surgical masks as a way to curb the spread of the coronavirus.”
    https://www.fastcompany.com/90487327/will-your-cotton-mask-prevent-coronavirus-spread-new-study-casts-doubt

    Studies about the Covid 19 virus are in the rudimentary phase. Let us not jump to conclusions about the results of small sample sized studies. We still have to critically assess conclusions. Many recommendations are based on what improves your safety.

  5. The entitlement and sense of privilege of some of our people in Trinidad is a sight to behold. While people in New York are lying in corridors in hospital, begging and praying for ventilators and medical personnel to take care of them, dying without anyone even noticing, our covid 19 patients are getting the best health care, ventilators all over the place, but they vex, they complaining about the food. It too hard to be in isolation, to be quarantined, they bored. They want to go out there and be a danger to the 1.3 million people in T&T. Some of them saying “send a plane for them”, the health safety of 1.3 million is not as important as them being back in T&T. We, the taxpayers, footing their medical bills, but no appreciation. They entitled, they privileged, they have a right. We, the 1.3 million, have no rights. It’s ok if we get infected and die, once they not bored and can go about like they want. Yesterday people all over the world applauded the front line workers in the fight against the virus, they appreciated and applauded the health care workers. Not here. Here our entitled and privileged want to sue them.

  6. That is so true. It is a sight to behold and ingratitude displayed full extempore not only towards health care workers but the workers who are stacking grocery shelves, cleaning garbage etc.

  7. All the people of T&T should embrace the efforts of the government in fighting this virus. The Rowley administration has shown its competence and determination to protect this nation. People should stop thinking of the government as a PNM government, but as the government of T&T.
    The Opposition leader could set an example for her supporters by pledging her full and unqualified support for the reasonable and sensible actions of the administration in this time of crisis. This cooperation is what is required of a leader at times like this.Use the backrooms to work out your differences.
    There will be numerous warranted opportunities to criticize this government in the future.
    Rowley’s no-nonsense approach to this crisis is what this undisciplined nation needs right now.He has corrected mis-steps and served up impartiality with enough aggression as required.
    Let the dividers be silenced for now.

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