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Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on people, nations, and economies around the world. This novel coronavirus has led to a pandemic whose severity is unlike anything we’ve seen in a hundred years.
Scientists and medical experts are learning more about it as time goes on, but much is still not understood. What we do know is that wearing a cloth mask can help to slow the spread of this disease. Here are some in-depth reasons why you should wear a face mask.
Protect Others
Many don’t like wearing masks. They can be uncomfortable and quite warm. However, because coronavirus spreads from person to person through respiratory drops, a mask is a simple and effective tool to cut down on that spread. Wearing a face covering prevents these droplets from escaping into the air when you talk, cough, or sneeze.
Combined with social distancing of about six feet, the chances of you unknowingly affecting those around you with the virus are quite small. Masks serve as a physical barrier that ensures the vast majority of your fluids do not leave your immediate vicinity. In fact, recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are in favor of mask-wearing for this reason.
Protect Yourself
Wearing a face mask can minimize your chances of obtaining the virus, too. Again, it works in the same way. A cloth covering can effectively shield your mouth and nose from any microdroplets sprayed into the air by those around you.
Of course, this method works even better when everyone wears a mask, but you will reap benefits even if you are the only individual using one. This is because your barrier breaks the chain of transmission and keeps an aerosolized spray of respiratory droplets from reaching your airway.
In Case You’re Asymptomatic
Wearing an ultra-light face mask at all times is recommended because you can spread the virus before you start to show symptoms or if you have the disease and develop no symptoms at all. The term “pre-symptomatic” is used to describe carriers who show symptoms later. Those who never develop noticeable symptoms are “asymptomatic.” Yes, a significant number of people who test positive for Covid-19 never develop symptoms.
Because of this, you can’t tell who may or may not be carrying it. To be safe, everyone should wear a face mask when they are in public close to others who do not live in their household.
Helps You Not to Touch Your Face
It’s recommended that you not touch your face in order to cut down on the spread of the virus. That’s because it’s possible for droplets to come in contact with your fingers. By touching your nose or mouth, you could then introduce those droplets directly into your nasal passages and airways.
Touching your face can greatly facilitate the spread of Covid-19 and similar viruses. When you wear a covering over your nose and mask, you won’t be as easily able to touch your face with your hand. An added bonus is that wearing a mask can help to remind you to maintain your distance from others. Touching our face and standing in close proximity are habits that can be difficult to break.
Keep Surfaces Clean
It’s more likely to spread coronavirus from person to person through the spread of respiratory droplets, but it is still possible to pick up particles from surfaces. When you wear a face mask, you won’t be spreading microdroplets to surrounding surfaces through your speech, sneezes or coughs. Therefore, there’s even less worry about picking up Covid-19 through surface contamination.
Help the Economy Recover
When spikes in the coronavirus occur in geographic regions, stricter lockdowns and closings of businesses must occur in order to once again contain the spread. If everyone were to wear face coverings, we could eliminate such spikes and flatten the curve.
This is the ultimate goal, and many countries around the world have been successful in achieving it. This must happen in order for businesses to remain open and for people to return to work. Otherwise, the economy will continue to flounder.
As of now, there is no vaccine or treatment for Covid-19. Wearing a face mask has shown to be the simplest and most effective method for containing the virus.
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