Why And How Face Masks Are Effective In Limiting Covid Spread

Researchers have found under which conditions and in which ways, masks actually reduce individual and population-average risks of being infected with Covid-19 and help mitigate the coronavirus pandemic.

The study, led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany’s Mainz, showed that in most environments and situations, even simple surgical masks effectively reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and the effective reproduction number for Covid-19.

“For the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2, we find that usually just a minor fraction of exhaled respiratory particles contains viruses. Most environments and contacts are under virus-limited conditions, where face masks, including simple surgical masks, have a high efficacy in preventing the spread of Covid-19,” said Yafang Cheng, the head of the Minerva Research Group at Max Planck.

In environments with potentially high airborne virus concentrations such as medical settings and densely-occupied indoor spaces, masks with higher filtration efficiency (N95/FFP2) should be used and combined with other protective measures such as intensive ventilation. In most situations, even simple surgical masks are effective.

“The combination of high-efficiency masks with other protective measures is particularly important for hospitals, medical centres, and other indoor environments, where high risk patients may encounter high virus concentrations,” said Christian Witt, head of the Research Area Pneumology at the Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin.

“Masks will remain an important protective measure against SARS-Cov-2 infection — even for vaccinated persons, especially when the protection provided by vaccination decreases over time,” Witt said.

For the study, published in the journal Science, the team used observational data and a novel quantitative model of airborne virus exposure to elucidate how the efficacy of face masks depends on characteristic regimes of airborne virus concentration.

The approach can be used to assess protection against more infectious mutants of Covid. It is also applicable to a wide range of respiratory viruses and diseases, including coronaviruses, rhinoviruses, and influenza.

The findings showed that aerosol transmission does not necessarily lead to very high reproduction numbers as observed for measles, and that relatively low reproduction numbers do not rule out airborne transmission.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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How to Make a DIY No Sew Surgical Face Mask

Instructions for the public on how to fight the spread of Covid-19 keep changing by the day. Previously the World Health Organization discouraged the use of face masks by healthy individuals and claimed that wearing one is only needed if the person is coughing or sneezing, or taking care of someone who is showing symptoms. But in the last few days, this stance seems to be shifting. According to a report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is seriously considering changing those guidelines and require that anyone who must leave the house should cover their face with a mask. 
Such a requirement would clash with the mask shortages experienced around the world. Medical personnel, vulnerable populations and people who are actually sick with the virus are in dire need of those masks and are first in line to receive whatever limited supply there is. Despite there not being a clear instruction yet, a few officials have expressed their belief that the general public wearing masks would indeed help flatten the curve. To protect yourself despite the shortage, it is possible to make your own DIY mask. If the mention of a needle thread alarms you - don't worry! There are no-sew methods that are simple and accessible to anyone. 

Some Background on Face Masks

It’s important to know there are two types of masks - Surgical masks and respirators, also known as N-95.
Surgical masks - these are the ones you see doctors, nurses and dentists wear when they examine patients. They are more loose-fitting and thinner. They do provide protection from cough and sneeze droplets to a degree. However. because they are not tightly sealed around the nose and mouth, some of the air the wearer breathes is unfiltered. 
N-95 - commonly used by construction workers. They are tight and form-fitted to the wearer’s face. According to the CDC, they filter about 95% of the airborne particles, including viruses and bacteria. The downside of the N-95 masks is that they are difficult to wear for long periods of time, as they get clogged and that may cause the wearer trouble breathing, and higher heart rate. Pregnant women and people with breathing problems should consult a doctor before wearing an N-95 mask. 
According to the WHO, surgical face masks are perfectly suitable for individuals who just need them to run errands outside or go grocery shopping. 
 

So How Do You Make a Surgical Mask At Home?

The best materials for a face mask would be a cotton T-shirt or a cotton pillowcase. That is because of the fabric’s ability to capture particles yet remain breathable. A study on DIY face-masks has concluded that cotton masks perform comparably to regular surgical masks. Do not forget to wash the cloth before using it! Use the warmest setting in your washing machine, then dry it on high heat as well.
 

No-Sew Face Mask

Materials:
1. Cut a square out of your fabric, roughly the size and shape of a handkerchief (12x12 in or 30x30 cm)
2. Two hair ties
 
Steps:
1. Place the square fabric on a surface or a table in front of you.
2. Fold the top to the center.
3. Fold the bottom to the center.
4. Flip over.
5. Fold the bottom to the center.
6. Fold the top to the center.
7. Flip over again.
8. Thread both ends of the fabric through the hair ties, so it is broken into three parts with the center part being slightly larger than the ends.
9. Fold the sides into the center.
10. Flip over the last time, and the mask is ready to wear.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

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https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
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Cold plasma can kill 99.9 per cent of airborne viruses

Dangerous airborne viruses can be rendered harmless on-the-fly when exposed to 'cold plasma' -- a stream of energetic, charged fragments of air molecules, scientists have found. The team hopes to one day harness this capability to replace the surgical mask.

The researchers have measured the virus-killing speed and effectiveness of nonthermal plasmas -- the ionised, or charged, particles that form around electrical discharges such as sparks. A nonthermal plasma reactor was able to inactivate or remove from the airstream 99.9 per cent of a test virus, with the vast majority due to inactivation.

Achieving these results in a fraction of a second within a stream of air holds promise for many applications where sterile air supplies are needed.

"The most difficult disease transmission route to guard against is airborne because we have relatively little to protect us when we breathe," said a research associate .

To gauge nonthermal plasmas' effectiveness, researchers pumped a model virus -- harmless to humans -- into flowing air as it entered a reactor. Inside the reactor, borosilicate glass beads are packed into a cylindrical shape, or bed. The viruses in the air flow through the spaces between the beads and that is where they are inactivated.

"By passing through the packed bed, pathogens in the air stream are oxidised by unstable atoms called radicals. What's left is a virus that has diminished ability to infect cells," he said in a statement. 

During the tests researchers also tracked the amount of viral genome that was present in the air. In this way, researchers were able to determine that more than 99 per cent of the air sterilising effect was due to inactivating the virus that was present, with the remainder of the effect due to filtering the virus from the air stream.

This parallel approach -- combining filtration and inactivation of airborne pathogens -- could provide a more efficient way of providing sterile air than technologies used today, such as filtration and ultraviolet light.  Traditional masks operate using only filtration for protection. Ultraviolet irradiation can't sterilise as quickly, as thoroughly or as compactly has nonthermal plasma.

The team has begun testing their reactor on ventilation air streams at a livestock farm. Animal agriculture and its vulnerability to contagious livestock diseases such as avian influenza has a demonstrated near-term need for such technologies.

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