James Veverka: The whole point of masks is to protect other people from you

To The Daily Sun,

No, we can't resume normalcy. We need to follow the advice of medical experts in reopening carefully; not politicians or members of the Trump death cult who care more about Trump's re-election than sick and dying people. The Trumpies always try to minimize the realities of Covid-19 in order to make the case for a quick reopening of the economy because they believe opening the economy is thought to be key to Trump's re-election.

Trump's response to the virus has been a titanic failure, exacerbating both the fatalities and the subsequent economic damage. Columbia University modeling has found that if strict measures were put in place just a week earlier, 36,000 deaths could have been avoided. If put in place two weeks earlier, 83 percent could have been avoided. The U.S. has 4.3 percent of the world's population and 28 percent of the cases.

On the masking issue, some completely miss the most important point: it's to protect others from your respiratory droplets and aerosols in case you are infected. I wear a mask to protect others and I want others to wear a mask to protect me. Unlike some other respiratory viruses, Covid-19 is transmitted by seemingly healthy asymptomatic people. The CDC director noted in April, "that a significant number of individuals that are infected actually remain asymptomatic. That may be as many as 25 percent."

Then researchers in Iceland reported that 50 percent of their novel coronavirus cases who tested positive had no symptoms. In another report, researchers in Singapore identified seven clusters of cases in which presymptomatic transmission is the most likely explanation for the occurrence of secondary cases. That report was backed up by a study that concluded that people with no symptoms are the source of 44 percent of diagnosed Covid-19 cases. At the same time, a study reported that people might be most contagious during the period before they have symptoms.

Finally, two studies published in late May indicated that a high percentage of people with Covid-19 could be without symptoms. In one study, researchers reported that 104 of 128 people (81 percent) on a cruise ship who tested positive the novel coronavirus were asymptomatic. In the other study, researchers reported that 42 percent of people who tested positive for COVID-19 were without symptoms. The CDC director has stated clearly, “This helps explain how rapidly this virus continues to spread across the country because we have asymptomatic transmitters.” So much for allegedly "healthy people" not needing to mask (https://www.healthline.com/health-news/50-percent-of-people-with-covid19-not-aware-have-virus),

Masks also confer some protection to the wearer but it's important to also protect your eyes if you want more protection. Those asymptomatic people not wearing masks leave a respiratory cloud wherever they go and that can enter your eyes. A new meta-study of 44 different studies from 16 different nations regarding SARS, MERS, and Covid-19 has found that masks, social distancing, and eye protection combined may reduce transmission by 85 percent (Lancet meta-study: https://time.com/5846288/social-distancing-face-masks-covid/),

James Veverka

Tilton