Antiviral Mask or Mask to Mitigate or Control Corona Virus

[Ronen E]

From WHO:
If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-nCoV infection.

From Al's sig line:
You May Ignore the Facts, But They Still Remain

Since when is anyone paying attention to facts?

 

[Marc]

As an aside - It may have been CDC - Shown on a news program I was watching. Many face types - Mostly men's facial hair types. Most face hair defeat the purpose of the mask - Must be "air tight". All beards fail, and long mustaches also fail.

Biggest problem is people wearing masks who don't fully cover the nose.

From Al's sig line:
You May Ignore the Facts, But They Still Remain

And... Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. - (Attributed to Aldous Huxley)

We need some advise on the proper mask to procure or order for the corona virus. Is surgical mask an overkill? Or, could we just invest on buying earloop mask?

What is the best respirator mask to handle the corona virus spread? 'Best' means in terms of price and structure.

Is ASTM F2100-11 enough to claim antiviral?

Is this for personal use or use in a manufacturing facility?

 

[Watchcat]

Facts:

1. WHO and CDC currently do not recommend wearing a facemask if you are not sick, unless you are caring for someone who is sick and unable to wear a facemask.

2. Either or both organizations could change their recommendations at any time.

3. The ability of a mask to protect you is unlikely to change at any time and is not determined by recommendations.

 

[Bill Levinson]

From WHO:
If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-nCoV infection.

From Al's sig line:
You May Ignore the Facts, But They Still Remain

I think (not engineering advice) WHO gave us bad information. The UK's Health and Safety Executive (their counterpart of OSHA) tested various masks. The best one (Screwfix) offers a protection factor of 100, i.e. you are 1/100 as likely to get COVID-19, but none are available. However, an improvised mask made from a bra cup or sanitary towel offers a protection factor of 2 (you are half as likely to get COVID-19). Any mask must however be worn and handled properly. Coronavirus face masks selling out..which one SHOULD you buy? | Daily Mail Online

Is this for personal use or use in a manufacturing facility?

That is an important point because PPE must meet certain requirements for a workplace, which improvised masks almost certainly do not.

 

[Ronen E]

The best one (Screwfix) offers a protection factor of 100, i.e. you are 1/100 as likely to get COVID-19, but none are available. However, an improvised mask made from a bra cup or sanitary towel offers a protection factor of 2 (you are half as likely to get COVID-19).

I wonder, where you pulled those figures from?
I hope you realise that any such statements must come with a pack of caveats, and that the effectiveness of any face mask varies a lot from individual to individual.

 

[Watchcat]

counterpart of OSHA

If that is the case, it would not be my first choice as a source for protection against a virus. Typically OSHA would evaluate masks for protection against exposure to industrial hazards, like asbestos or chemicals.

you are 1/100 as likely to get COVID-19.....you are half as likely to get COVID-19)

In order for these figures to be valid, they would have had to issue them to people who did not have COVID-19, expose them to COVID-19, and then count the number of those who did and did not get COVID-19. This seems unlikely. More likely is that they made some assumptions that might or might not be valid, and based these data on those assumptions, perhaps along with some data about the physical characteristics of the masks, such as the size of airborne particles the material filtered.

 

[rob73]

No-one has mentioned yet the need for eye protection, if someone coughs in your face it is more than likely that the virus will enter through the tear ducts. Face masks are pointless unless you are going to use all of the correct ppe.
Saw a woman just the other day walking down the street wearing a face mask, horses for courses i thought, until she lifted it to cough, right over the woman with her children next to her.

 

[Watchcat]

it is more than likely that the virus will enter through the tear ducts

Do you have a source for this information?

the woman with her children next to her

I think this is the main public health concern with masks; people will think they are protected and not practice distancing.

 

[Bill Levinson]

I wonder, where you pulled those figures from?
I hope you realise that any such statements must come with a pack of caveats, and that the effectiveness of any face mask varies a lot from individual to individual.

The reference explains, "The Health and Safety Executive uses a specialist machine that sprays water droplets at a person wearing a mask to accurately replicate being hit with a cough or a sneeze. "

 

[Watchcat]

Didn't see the reference, but that seems like a reasonable way to evaluate the mask for protection against the droplets that are airborne briefly after someone sneezes or coughs. However, it doesn't support quantitative claims regarding how more or less likely you are to get COVID-19 as a result of wearing a particular type of mask, or any mask at all.

Because the droplets are able to travel only a short distance before gravitational forces pull them down, my guess is WHO's thinking is that, if you keep at a distance of 6 feet, you don't need a mask to protect you from this mode of transmission, coupled with a concern that those who wear such masks will be less diligent at keeping their distance.

A question that remains open is whether the virus can be transmitted as a bioaerosol:
Transmission Potential of SARS-CoV-2 in Viral Shedding Observed at the University of Nebraska Medical Center

A mask that allows air to be breathed unfiltered (e.g., from the sides, bottom, top of mask) will not protect from bioaerosols, which could linger in the air for some time.