Masks Save Lives

Masks serve a number of purposes, such as:

  • Protecting medical staff from patient diseases
  • Protecting patients from diseases around them
  • Protecting the general public from each other

Countries that have normalized mask use for its entire population have had drastically slower spread of disease (the thing we’re all locked in our homes to try and do).

Wearing a simple cheap face mask alone can reduce your changes of spreading the disease by around 50%, which seems like a no-brainer to me.   The recommendations that the US government has made about not using masks has been done in order to prevent a run on masks that might have resulted in a shortage for the medical staff who need them.   Now that production of masks has increased greatly, we are hoping that we can begin normalizing routine mask use in the US in the near future.  A 50% reduction in contagion will definitely help us to flatten the curve.

This chart from Masks Save Lives demonstrates this effect:

Chart showing masks use reduces disease spread speed

Here is a great public service announcement from the Czech Republic:

As soon as masks are available more widely, please start wearing them when out.  If you have COVID-19, wear them now.

Updates since original posting:

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