#MASKS4ALL
EVERYBODY SHOULD WEAR MASKS. EVERYONE
This article is a basic translation from https://foro.coronavirusmakers.org/index.php?p=/discussion/743/tapabocas-para-tod-s/p1?new=1 (Miguel Ángel from coronavirusmakers)
And of course, everything you want to know about masks here:
https://coronavirustechhandbook.com/masks
Why? Because it is not both an individual and a social measure. It is very effective, less than home confinement, but close. We say face masks because surgical masks are scarce, but a textile or filter paper face mask already works well for the purposes of what we will tell you about in this post. Be sure to see how easy it is to make a mask with a coffee filter, to use and throw away [1], or a textile filter [2].
Sneeze: sneeze, goes further with sub-millimeter drops, the larger the drop, the more viral load (more viruses fit in it), can exceed 6 meters away (see the following simulation of a sneeze, comparing to elbowing or not elbowing: https://t.co/rh3zmIOolW).
Cough: cough, it goes less far, but still quite far, can exceed 2 meters.
Exhalation: breathed normally, it is the one that reaches the least distance, but even so, virus-laden drops are also exhaled, it does not usually exceed 2 meters away.
In all three cases aerosols are produced, micrometric drops in suspension, which will not fall to the ground, which due to their size do not usually project and are located around the infected. On the street this is not a problem because the air moves, and these micrometer drops go with the air that moves them. This begins to be a problem in closed environments such as elevators and is certainly a problem to consider in a highly infected environment such as the ICU ward of a hospital. This spray is the reason why we have to keep a safe distance in the supermarket and the reason why we must leave FFP3 masks for toilets at high risk of infection, such as those who work in an ICU.
Face masks are useful to prevent contagion, although they are not as good as anti-particle masks because they allow 33% or 25% of particles to pass through in the case of a textile or surgical mask, respectively [4]. Above all, they prevent contagion by projected drops from a sneeze or cough from someone without a mask.
But more important is to prevent infecting third parties. As this virus is spread while we continue to feel that we are healthy, as a precaution we should act as if we were infected. Any surgical or textile mask will stop your projected drops in a sneeze or cough, the main transmission vectors.
The mask is not an individual measure, it is a social measure, like staying at home.
It takes no more than 2 minutes to make a mask with a coffee filter [1]. Make them, teach them how to make them, donate them to the entire population, with special attention to the elderly. Take care to do it with caution if you are going to donate them, assume that you are infected to take all the necessary precautions so that more vulnerable others do not get it from you.
Put it on every time you go shopping, to work, to assist the elderly, put it on and help others to put it on.
We recommend also this article about who to desinfect https://foro.coronavirusmakers.org/index.php?p=/discussion/751/desinfectando-mascarillas-y-filtros/p1?new=1
and this one in English about the importance to wear a mask: