What a time we’re living in. We are all being highly encouraged if not forced to wear masks while in public. My gut reaction is to resist. I feel my rights being impeded upon and conforming to the “new normal” isn’t happening without a fight. These initial strong feelings led me to find answers. Is wearing a mask and act of submission or the right thing to do for the greater good? Do masks really keep us and those around us safe or are they simply a false sense of protection? Am I just a rebel without a cause? Turns out, my gut was on to something…
Let me breakdown why masks, not even N-95s will not protect against COVID-19. This information is no one’s opinion, it is fact. The micron (the unit of measurement of a pathogen) of a COVID-19 particle is .125. The smallest size of micron that can pass through a mask is .3. This means that the COVID-19 micron size is so tiny that it can actually pass through any type of mask. The N-95 mask was named N-95 because it protects against 95% of pathogens. COVID-19, unfortunately is in the 5% that it can not protect you from.
Typical masks are meant to protect other’s from you not the other way around. You probably already know this but the typical mask that people are wearing are what surgeons wear during surgery to protect a patient in case they spit, cough or sneeze. Sick people wear masks to protect others from getting what they have. Masks do not protect the person wearing the mask. They protect the people around them from getting the illness they carry.
As I stated earlier, N-95 masks are meant to protect you from 95% of pathogens unlike a typical cloth mask or paper mask. However, if they are to properly work, they must be custom fitted to a person’s face. After wearing an N-95 mask for 1 hour, they tend to get wet which is when they are no longer working and must be discarded.
With both types of masks, especially the N-95 mask, breathing in your own CO2 can be very unhealthy. For one, CO2 is very acidic and too much of it disturbs the pH of the body which is vital to overall health. Not to mention, you are breathing in your own bacteria. Also, wearing a face mask for even a short amount of time depletes vital oxygen your body needs to survive. Moisture retention and reuse of cloth masks can result in an increased risk of infection. Common sense tells me that masks can actually trap infectious particles near the mouth and nose making the risk much greater than if a person is breathing open air.
Not only do masks compromise one’s health, they are uncomfortable to say the least. Adjusting the mask puts you more at risk then if you were able to breath comfortably and make a conscious effort to keep your hands away from your face. I encountered a bank teller yesterday who was clearly uncomfortable wearing her mask and continuously needed to adjust it for comfort as well as to talk to me because she was so soft spoken I could not hear her. Normally, I would’ve been able to read her lips. I’m sure she is dealing with this all day. My heart went out to her.
I am very torn about wearing a mask. While I want to be empathetic to my fellow shoppers and would never want to appear selfish, I also do not want to conform to the “new normal” the powers that be are trying to enforce. Our media has failed us completely by instilling massive amounts of fear as well as false information making the general public on edge and scared senseless.
I want to add that I do have a person in my life that would be greatly effected if he contracted COVID-19. My dad has had 2 cases of pneumonia in the last 2 months and the last hospital stay nearly killed him due to lack of attention from the hospital staff and the isolation. It would be a death sentence for him if he contracted this virus. I want you to now I do not take this virus lightly and would do nothing to put my father or children at risk.
Wearing a mask because the media tells me to is a hell no from me. Wearing a mask to make other’s that are scared feel more comfortable is a maybe. As you well know, it’s a tricky situation we’re all in and we must all make an informed decision how to proceed and whether or not there is a sinister under current to this entire pandemic. The older I get, the more I question the people I always thought I could trust. Our government and our medical community aren’t all we thought they were and as I learned when I was home birthing, my body and the body of my children are my responsibility and no one else’s.
Stay alert. Question everything!
xx, Jenni A.K.A Rebel WITH a Cause
Wow. I say this respectfully, as the tone is often lost in communications that are online and have no face associated with them. I have really strong feelings about this, particularly as an emergency physician who has been at the forefront of it in NYC. What the news tells you is not even the half of it. There is definitely plenty of misinformation out there. However, when NY was put on pause and asked to wear masks, wash hands, and stay 6 ft apart, the effect was dramatic. Suddenly, my ER was no longer an ICU full of patients on ventilators, dying left and right. Are masks perfect? Absolutely not, especially when used improperly as I commonly see outside (people touching them, touching their faces, etc). Are they going to block every single virus particle? No. However, there is a problem with your logic about the sizes of the particles. Just because a virus particle can fit between the fibers does not mean that every single particle will get between the fibers. So is a mask better than nothing? Absolutely, especially if someone is coughing or exerting themselves and expelling a lot of particles. It decreases the absolute number of particles that get out, as some of the particles will get out in a space between the fibers, and some particles will hit a fiber and stop there. That will keep them from going to someone else’s airway. Less exposure, less risk. As a physician, I am dealing with tremendous amounts of exposure at work, and frankly, it is terrifying every single day. I’ve watched my friends and coworkers succumb to this- some have died, some have been permanently disabled, and some have recovered. But our exposure is very high as we are very close to people’s mouths, and as we intubate them. Every time I go to work, I just wonder- who will be next? Will it be me? Will I die if I get sick? After all, we have had many people in their 30s and 40s get sick, not just the elderly. Will my 7-month-old son be motherless? Horrifying thoughts for any new mother. If this small measure and inconvenience helps even one other person, it would be worth it for them. Over the past 2.5 months I’ve seen so much death. The least I can do for my fellow humans out in public is cover my face, if there is even the smallest chance it will save a life. Be safe out there. These are really hard times.
Elizabeth-Thank you for commenting-Your voice is the voice I lack-a real person on the frontline dealing with this. I don’t know anyone to give this side of things and I’m so glad you took the time to write this and educate me. I understand what you are saying and definitely do not want to put any one at risk. I’m so glad to add this comment to this post. Bless you and what you’re doing and going through. And thank you for being kind and telling me your side without calling me names or unfollowing. So many want to call me out but not explain their side in and educated and kind way.
Thank you for the kind words.
I appreciate that Elizabeth wrote what she did. Her voice was an important one to be heard. She IS where the action happens. We ARE NOT! Jenni, your website is such a wonderful source of information to help keep our bodies healthy naturally and politics just doesn’t belong here.
Elizabeth, thank you so much for everything what you been doing for us and shared your voice. I’m from NYC and 1000% with you. Please be safe. I’ll keep doing my part!
YES!! This! Thank you.
Teresa-Thank you!!!
Fantastic post. Thank you for your research and clear explanation. I sent your post to friends and family. We need to not rely on false security.
Kristin-Thank you so much!
Where did you find this information? I have done quite a bit of research and haven’t found the information you have described, other than the size of the virus, which isn’t that relevant since the virus would mostly be riding on larger particles and/or water droplets. The Mayo clinic, CDC and countless other research bodies believe it is an important part of slowing the spread, not a failsafe solution and I agree with them at this point.
Healthcare workers have had a much lower incidence of getting Covid than the rest of the population because they wear masks. That’s a fact.
People always scream about their rights but nobody has the right to infect another person by being careless.
I fail to see the big deal in wearing a mask. You wear it when you’re out and about, not 24/7. It would be infringing on your rights to be told you had to donate your kidney, not wear a mask. Come on!
During WW2 people worked together for the greater good. They didn’t complain about their “rights”.
This may be an enlightened age but I think a lot of Americans are spoiled and selfish.
Apparently healthcare workers’ comments get deleted, too. Even when respectful and well-thought-out without being accusatory.
Elizabeth-I just approved your comment-NEVER would I delete a well thought out, kind comment. I haven’t opened my computer until now because I blog second to being a mom. Comments that get through without me manually approving them are because they have commented before. New comments wait for me. I’ll say it again-your respectful comment was exactly the voice this post needed and I am so happy you commented.
Thank you, I appreciate it.
Thank you Sue, I totally agree with you. With reports of almost 30% people asymptomatic while having the COVID-19 infection, it’s clear that these people can easily spread infection to others without knowing. So, it all makes sense that everyone wears a mask when in public or around others, whether feeling well or not so well, since someone may not even know that they are spreading the infection because of lack of symptoms.
Totally agree! Thanks for not going with the mob mentality.
“They protect the people around them from getting the illness they carry.”
Isn’t that the point of wearing a mask? Because you could be carrying the virus and not show any symptoms and unknowingly end up passing it to someone else that may be very susceptible to it. Yeah I worry about getting covid-19, but I also worry that I may end up giving it to someone that has a weak immune system and that is NOT a risk I would want to take. Like someone else said, you wear it for 20 minutes at the grocery store, not 24/7.
Evidence is starting to show that asymptomatic carriers are NOT the problem we’ve been led to believe they are. In this study, out of the 455 people exposed to an asymptomatic carrier, not ONE caught COVID…https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32405162/?fbclid=IwAR25MaLMSvZWPhX9kcMHQQzH932ZMLoBG0e5Eqn69_OkYFvYvDxta3oJ1yA
I went to the worldometer.info site & looked at actual statistics. I’ll say this, you are more likely to die in a traffic accident than from this virus. We won’t even talk about alcohol & tobacco related deaths. Yet people continue to drive their cars & walk across streets. People continue to smoke & consume alcohol, probably more so due to the depression they suffer as a result of the confinement & isolation, not to mention their economic situation. Yes, this makes people sick. Yes, it kills some. Italy, that is held up as being so hard hit, has recently announced that 96% of its deaths were in people over 80 with at least one comorbidity factor. Sweden didn’t shut down at all yet their statistics fall somewhere in the middle. Plus, they’ve been developing herd immunity while we cower in our homes.
Thank you so much for writing this post. It is incredibly frustrating to watch people mindlessly follow recommendations that have no bearing in reality. We have seen multiple interviews from nurses on the front lines talking about all the misinformation being circulated. Look at this article from March https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-cdc-says-americans-dont-have-to-wear-facemasks-because-of-coronavirus-2020-01-30
And yes, masks cause problems! I’m unable to wear a mask. It will literally compromise my lungs. Those who are wearing them for any prolonged time WILL end up with health issues.
https://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/dr-blaylock-face-masks-pose-serious-risks-healthy11?utm_campaign=Daily%20Newsletter%3A%20Personal%20message%20%28RPAxZr%29&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Daily%20Newsletter&_ke=eyJrbF9lbWFpbCI6ICJqYW5pZWJsZXdpczFAZ21haWwuY29tIiwgImtsX2NvbXBhbnlfaWQiOiAiSzJ2WEF5In0%3D