As the majority of people have been wearing masks since the pandemic begun, not just as a government's mandate but almost everyone who are wearing a mask expects everyone to wear one. May I include getting ridiculous looks if a person doesn't wear any? Or physically turning or distancing oneself from anyone without a mask for that matter.
As I tell you my story, please consider that I am a healthy individual, having all tests for Sars-CoV2 negative, do you think that I need to wear a mask when out and about in the community?
As a frontliner who constantly wear a mask at work due to the fact that majority of our patients are Sars-CoV2 positives, our ward a step-down of ITU patients. As these patients are no longer aerosol generating, a surgical mask was sufficient for us staff. This was the implementation from Public Health England since the beginning of the pandemic.
Looking back, there had been a few of patients who were positives from Mid-march. Having a few single rooms in our ward, it was easier to isolate them with or with no respiratory symptoms. For all staff, I guess with no swab results, exposure to these patients were there. Unless a staff developed minor symptoms, then quarantine was a MUST for two weeks. Households included.
Having a housemate with symptoms and in quarantine also put me on quarantine for two weeks. A few days afterwards, symptoms also started beginning with a sore throat and a cold, and a much later episodes of fever and cough. The swab at that time was negative and a clearance to go back to work after 48 hours of no fever.
Having had symptoms prompted me to go for the antibody testing which as I've said came back negative as well. This was in May.
After all that, and two months later, the mandate in UK was to wear a mask in public transport. This I can understand as social distancing is not really possible. In our hospital, everyone MUST wear a mask in all areas. In a 12-hour shift, personally I find it suffocating.
In saying these, there are exemptions like a child younger than 11 need not wear one or people with physical or mental illness where wearing one can cause distress. There was a specific list that came out last June where people can be fined up to £100 if not compliant.
Now for the physical illness that a person may have to be exempted,a doctor's letter is needed in this case. But this is a confirmed diagnosis that wearing a mask may exacerbate the condition.
How about new symptom/s caused by wearing a mask itself? Acutely or can be due to a prolonged usage of a mask?
Anyone have heard of people getting headaches from wearing a mask?
The oxygen in the air that we breathe have 21% of oxygen in it. Normally, we shouldn't have any problems unless we have an ongoing respiratory disease. Interestingly, there was a guy on Facebook who took a video while checking his oxygenation without a surgical face mask, then with a face mask. The link no longer works as fact-checked to be wrong. Anyway, considering that a surgical face mask is not fully sealed around the nose and mouth, there was a difference of about 2% of oxygen.
For how long a person can withstand this level, there's no data to show it. As a nurse, experience-wise, I gasp for air after attending to a patient or patients. Strenuous or not, this with a surgical face mask. What more for the other frontliners who are up on their feet, running about using N95 or duck bill masks? These fully seal the nose and mouth, in a 12-hour shift with a few breaks.
Personally with those masks, 30 minutes was my maximum duration when transferring a patient to ITU. Hypoxia with less oxygen in the body, hypercapnia from inhaling carbon dioxide that our lungs just exhaled out of the body... these are real problems that at the moment no one is acknowledging.
Or are we under-reporting such issues?
Something in an article from childrenhealthdefense.org mentioned that there is a 6% probability of not catching a virus when wearing a mask. True or false? I suppose the benefits vs. the risks of wearing a mask needs to be focused on. In the content of catching Sars-CoV2, are the benefits for some higher than the risks that some may have when not wearing a mask?
Or vice versa.
Personally, when having a respiratory symptom, a mask is needed to prevent transmission. As with any virus, our society have vulnerable groups to consider ie. the elderly and the immuno-compromised. In consideration to all, we have in our society some people who aren't susceptible to the virus. In addition, the World Health Organization themselves admitted that they no data of transmission from people who are positive but with no symptoms. If other researches regarding Sars-CoV2 are to be considered, majority show that transmission is only from those who have symptoms.
If the world's data will have to be believed in its' mortality cases of Sars-CoV2, if it's true that there's less than 1% of the total population, is it much riskier then for the remaining population to be wearing masks when it's not needed?
Wearing a mask have its' own risks. Perhaps not as much if in a short time but without a doubt, us as our frontliners are the ones who use them most time. Outside work, I believe we don't need it unless it's necessary.
Whatever choice we may take, whichever is comfortable for us, I want to believe that we are considerate when it comes to our vulnerable population. And in knowing that we are vulnerable, we take actions to protect ourselves too. For some of us who gets uncomfortable with masks among other risks, we also have a valid reason in not using them.
May we be forgiving and considerate to each other.
Disclaimer: My blogs are my experiences, thoughts, opinions among others. Please do your own research and/or ask your doctor with health matters.
Resources:
https://healthcareleadernews.com/covid-19/public-health-england-to-update-ppe-guidance-this-week/
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/news/the-risks-vs-benefits-of-face-masks-is-there-an-agenda/