I’ve been wanting to write about it for a while, but was just to lazy. But now I’m so fed up with dumb people who are so careless and inconsiderate it’s borderline disgusting. So, here are some basic explanations how viruses work and why we wear masks. And how we should wear them because people apparently think we need to protect our chins for some reason…
How viruses spread
Viruses cannot exist on their own. They absolutely require a host which they use to multiply. And that’s sole role of a virus. To multiply. Viruses can survive certain period of time outside of hosts, but they will eventually degrade and fall apart when in contact with oxygen for extended periods of time because oxygen is an oxidizing agent and will eventually kill the virus if it can’t multiply further to prevent its decay. But it can take from hours to days depending on surface they are on. Viruses (and bacteria) can exit our body via bodily fluids. Since they spread through entire body, they also enter bodily fluids and they are secreted through many of our body orifices. Most commonly nose and mouth. And that’s not only when we cough or sneeze, but also during things like simply breathing or speaking. Virus in tiny droplets of saliva can exit our body and gets transferred into another host via exposed mucosa (nose, mouth, eyes). Which brings me to the next point…
You’re not a pussy for wearing a mask
Seeing a lot of mostly “tough” American soldiers posting selfies without a mask in crowded places with “I’m no pussy” tag under the selfie. You’re not a pussy, you’re just a selfish inconsiderate dumbass. The reason we’re wearing masks is to prevent spreading of virus from OUR body. You’re not wearing a mask to protect YOURSELF. You’re wearing a mask to protect OTHERS. Sure there is a tiny protection of your respiratory tract (mouth, nose, lungs) when you have your body entry point covered by a mask, but unless you’re also wearing a fully enclosed protective goggles too, you’re not really protected as virus can still enter your body via exposed mucosa in eyes if someone coughs at your face without them having a mask on. However, if I’m wearing a mask, talking, sneezing, coughing, laughing, none of this expels saliva droplets with virus because they get stopped by the mask. And if a person I’m interacting with also wears a mask, they are also stopping virus from being expelled from their body. Meaning, if all interacting parties wear a mask, virus basically cannot spread as the range of being expelled from the body decreases so far it cannot reach another person this way. You’re wearing mask to protect others and other wear masks to protect you. Only way to achieve best safety for everyone is for everyone to wear a mask. It’s literally that simple.
Stop whining about how uncomfortable the masks are…
I work with people and that means I have to wear mask up to 12 hours a day because work requires it. Every single day. And while they are a mild discomfort, it’s really not end of the world and if I survived for all these months wearing masks for such long periods every single day, you too can wear a god damn mask when you come to where I work and have to wear the mask for those few minutes. Whining about it and pulling the mask down just shows you’re a god damn weakling that I’m surprised you managed to somehow survive to this point. Only reason masks get really uncomfortable is when they get saturated with water from the moisture from exhaled breath, actually decreasing surface area through which air can pass easily and making it uncomfortable to breathe through because it takes a bit more effort to get the air through than with new, clean and dry mask. Which is why you’re suppose to replace masks roughly every 2 hours. If you’re visiting a shop or a bank for few minutes, you’re not being affected by mask.
And if you’re one of those people who wanders into a store without a mask and then gets into a raging fight with others after they tell you to wear a mask, where you get into faces of others while yelling and spitting, you are the fucking infectious problem. Not only you don’t wear a mask, you literally do the worst possible thing by being angry motherfucker getting into faces of others and yelling, literally making sure you’re spreading possible infection the best you could. So, if you’re one of those, fuck you, you miserable selfish piece of shit.
How to properly wear a mask?
Properly wearing a mask includes covering of both, nose and mouth while mask has to extend below the chin area, because they are both body orifices that expel the air furthest and that air includes bodily fluids. Just because you don’t see them, it doesn’t mean they aren’t there. They are. So, wear the damn mask covering both, nose and mouth. Just wearing it over your mouth is not enough. Also make sure you pinch the part of the mask that’s contacting your nose. The metal part in it exists for this purpose, so it closes the gap around your nose. And for god sake, stop constantly pulling the mask down to “breathe”, stop touching your god damn nose and for fucks sake, DON’T pull your mask down when you need to cough or sneeze. The mask literally exists for those cases primarily. It’s why you’re wearing it! Pulling it off at those moments literally negates mask’s sole purpose.
Masks that are not appropriate
I’ve seen a lot of people wear various masks and I just want to point out which masks are entirely pointless and shouldn’t be worn because they serve no purpose at all.
- Masks with exhale ports (a one way valve in front of a mask). These are used by painters and carpenters where masks exists to protect you from inhaling foreign harmful particles in huge quantities and make exhaling easier because you’re exhaling the air past filtration stage. With current situation with coronavirus, thanks to the exhale port, you’re literally exhaling all the saliva particles past filter into the air through the exhale port. And since ports are usually facing forward, you’re literally channeling the potentially infected saliva droplets into faces of others. Avoid wearing these entirely.
- Thin cloth like bandanas. The fabric density is so low most of the particles simply pass through. The range of saliva droplets is slightly impacted, but for the most part it’ll only catch actually visible droplets of saliva. The rest will pass through anyway.
- Napkins or cloth held on your face with your hand. Not only it makes you a one handed cripple, you’re also not sealing your mouth as good as a dedicated mask that is shaped to better adapt to contours of the face and you’re literally breathing saliva particles into your hand. Then you’ll probably exchange hands to hold it and spread the virus further with your hand. Just don’t.
Other bullshit myths about masks
There is a lot of dumb conspiracy theories and fearmongering videos and I’m gonna point out their nonsense and how they totally aren’t true.
- Masks decrease your blood oxygen. Which is total bullshit. Normal blood oxygen saturation is between 95-100% and can fluctuate due to air temperature, moisture and obstructions like masks. But will never fall below that level because of masks alone. Anything below that is considered dangerous and you should seek medical attention when that happens because it may cause dizziness and losing of consciousness. Oxygen (O2) and Carbon dioxide (CO2) molecules are so small they can easily pass through ANY mask, even the densest P100 masks which are highest rated protective masks in existence and can filter 99,97% of oil or non oil particulates down to 2.5 microns in size. To put that into perspective, oxygen molecule consists of two oxygen atoms, making it around 0.3nm in kinetic size (0.003 microns). Yeah, there is NO way even P100 mask is stopping oxygen from flowing through the mask and decreasing your blood oxygen level.
- Masks don’t work and they prove that by using vape and how easily it’s passing through the mask in all directions. As explained above, best masks with P100 filtration grade can filter particulates up to 2.5 microns in size. Vape particles are generally between 50-200nm (0.05-0.2 microns). Way below filtration levels of even P100 masks. Only thing people disproving masks efficiency proved they are idiots who don’t understand how masks work. Entirely.
- If masks can only stop particles down to size of 2.5 microns and SARS-COV2 virus is somewhere between 60 and 140nm in size (0.06-0.14 microns), what’s the point then? Well, while masks may not stop SARS-COV2 directly, the thing is, virus is never expelled from our body by itself. It’s always as part of bodily fluids expelled from our body and those are way way larger at around 50-100 microns, we’re talking droplets carrying a virus that are 25 to 50 times larger than the minimal filtration capability of the masks. So, yeah, it makes all the sense in wearing a mask because it’ll stop all those droplets that would otherwise leave your body unchallenged when sneezing or coughing.
- Masks are a way for governments to oppress us. I just love people who keep saying this. But please, explain to me how they are “oppressing” you? You can’t go to store because of a mask? You can’t freely drive a car anymore because of a mask? Hell, they now even say you’re not allowed to enter places like banks without a mask, where it’s generally forbidden to wear face covers. In most places, even if you don’t have a mask and you ask for one, they will provide you one free of charge. So, how? How are governments oppressing you with a requirement to wear a mask? Not being able to go to crowded places is a separate but related matter. It’s not oppression, it’s precaution. Crowded places are a horrible infection vector because while masks dramatically decrease the expelled bodily fluid particles, they by no means prevent that 100%. Some particles still fly out on the side of the mask because it’s not air tight. And if it’s a crowded place and you’re standing next to others even with masks, chances are you can get infected. Sort of basics of fluid dynamics (way how liquids propagate through obstacles and air also behaves like fluid), but I’m not expecting normies to understand it. You just need to believe people who do understand fluid dynamics and say you need to wear a damn mask and still social distance to prevent spread of saliva particles. It’s science, not oppressive regimes. Unless you consider science to be oppressive, in which case, welcome to year 1450. And put down that shiny fancy new 1500€ smartphone. Coz it’s clearly witchcraft.
Final words
There. I don’t expect my rant to reach a wide audience since I’m a small time blogger with tiny following, but if you happen to read this and you see yourself doing all the mistakes or you see yourself being that selfish prick who doesn’t care about others, I hope you’ll change your way of thinking after you learn about it.
I used to be one of those people who said whole coronavirus thing was totally over exaggerated and it’ll blow over as a slightly stronger annual influenza. Just to realize it’s not going to, because people are dumb, selfish and inconsiderate and can’t follow the most basic protection means to decrease the spread. Instead we have a global pandemic that shows no signs of regression thanks to before mentioned dumb selfish people.
LinuxWalt (@lnxw48a1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
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