Masking reality

Since the start of the pandemic, messaging about mask-wearing has changed considerably.

Early on, the World Health Organization suggested that wearing a mask wasn't necessary, but changed that stance in June. Many sources originally claimed that masks only benefited non-wearers, while new studies have provided research that wearing a mask may actually help protect the wearer as well as others.

The most recent data suggests that wearing masks does help limit the spread of COVID-19.

A Fox News special report demonstrated that the type of mask and how well it fits also impacts efficacy. The test studied eight different types of masks, including neck gaiters, single and double layer cotton masks, as well as valved and regular N-95 masks. The study used cigarette smoke, which it notes is much smaller than the virus particles, to visibly demonstrate how transmission could occur. Cotton masks, neoprene and surgical masks were all deemed effective by the study. However, the bandana, neck gaiter and valved N-95 showed visible smoke traveling at least six inches, Fox News found. The N-95 mask stopped the smoke entirely in the study and is recommended for use, specifically by healthcare workers.

Data from a Center for Disease Control scientific brief published Nov. 20 looked at "'real-world' effectiveness of community masking" through several different studies.

"Seven studies have confirmed the benefit of universal masking in community level analyses....Each analysis demonstrated that, following directives from organizational and political leadership for universal masking, new infections fell significantly. Two of these studies...also demonstrated reductions in mortality," the CDC brief explained.

According to the Virginia Department of Health, one myth appearing on the internet and social media is that mask wearing can lower a person's oxygen levels. "There is no scientific proof or evidence that wearing a disposable mask or cloth face covering can hurt your oxygen levels or cause you to breathe in dangers levels of carbon dioxide," the VDH's Myths About COVID-19 webpage says.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration from the Department of Labor includes similar information on their COVID-19 webpage, noting that healthcare workers routinely wear masks through the day as part of their jobs and have not experienced lowered oxygen levels.

"Like medical masks, cloth face coverings are loose-fitting with no seal and are designed to be breathed through....Cloth face coverings and medical masks can help prevent the spread of potentially infectious respiratory droplets from the wearer to their co-workers, including when the wearer has COVID-19 and does not know it," according to OSHA.

A report published by the United States National Library of Medicine, notes that "The CDC estimates that about 40 percent of infected individuals do not display overt symptoms and may contribute to the significant spread of the disease without their knowledge."

The value of wearing masks or face coverings in public settings is one of the most contentious issues being debated worldwide during the pandemic, a June research article by Wei Lyu and George L. Wehby found.

Similarly, in a Nov.1 article from Scientific American titled "Scientists Failed to Use Common Sense Early in the Pandemic," Naomi Oreskes wrote that one reason people have been so confused about the efficacy of mask-wearing is due to conflicting messaging, as well as the lack of evidence early on demonstrating that masks worked. Oreskes went on to write that this was despite the fact that "surgeons have been routinely wearing medical-grade masks since the 1960s (and many doctors and nurses wore cloth masks long before then)."

"This is a common pattern in science: conflating the absence of evidence with evidence of absence....If we have evidence that something may help-and is unlikely to do harm-there is little excuse for not recommending it," Oreskes wrote.

According to the CDC, proper mask-wearing, which includes wearing a mask that is fitted, completely covers the mouth and nose, and is of proper material is not the only factor in preventing the spread of COVID-19. In addition, they suggest frequent hand-washing for at least 20 seconds, not touching your face with unwashed hands (and washing your hands after handling your mask), and social distancing to help limit the spread of COVID-19.