Health officials address mask related topics, myths

Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series. A second story, to be published later in the week, will cover other topics related to coronavirus including how dangerous the disease seems to be, reporting of the numbers and potential vaccines.

By CALLAN PUGH
City editor

In the weeks leading up to and since Gov. Mike DeWine’s statewide mask mandate went into effect 6 p.m. Thursday, a debate has been raging online and in person about the value or lack thereof related to mask use and the reasons Ohio has been mandated to follow a statewide mask order.

The Daily Chief-Union reached out to local health officials Wyandot County Health Commissioner and Wyandot County Health District Medical Director Dr. Keri Harris and Wyandot County Public Health Director of Nursing Darlene Steward to address some of the most commonly discussed topics related to mask use and the novel coronavirus.

Assertion: Masks have not been proven to be helpful.

Harris said there is scientific data that has shown masks can be effective, though the data isn’t robust as COVID-19 is a new virus, of which scientists have only had a few months to study,” Harris said. “There have been some retrospective studies and several case reports that have shown a decreased incidence of spread in people that wear masks, there’s also some ongoing studies that show it may protect the person wearing the mask as well as protecting the people around you from getting it.

“So right now, they’re saying wear the mask to protect you from spreading it to other people in case you’re asymptomatic, but I think in the future they’ll also show that it probably helps protect yourself as well from others,” Harris continued.

Assertion: Calls for mask use have changed over time. No one really knows what works.

“I think it’s pretty simple,” Harris said of why messaging about masks has changed over time. “I think we just learned more. So I think experts all got together and did more studies and they talked about the COVID-19 more. It was just such a new virus when it first came out and there is a recording of Dr. Fauci saying that masks don’t work, but now he says they do because we just learned more.

“It’s a new virus and things are always changing, and as we learn more, we’re going to message that differently to the public.”

Harris also said that while there is still some debate over how COVID-19 is spread, whether it’s by droplets or airborne, it’s likely “a little bit of both” explaining airborne just means tinier droplets that stay in the air longer.

“When you cough or you sneeze, the reason the mask protects is because it holds those big droplets in, so that’s droplet protection, that’s like a surgical mask or a cloth mask will protect against people that are coughing or sneezing,” Harris said. “So if it’s airborne, yeah, some particles may get through that mask, but they’ll be less. So if you’re wearing a mask and the person that’s coughing or sneezing is wearing a mask, you’re less likely to get as many particles as you would if nobody was masked.”

Harris explained that personal protective equipment required if the virus is spread in a purely airborne way would be the N-95 masks, which still are not being suggested for the general public and are mainly intended for use by “health care providers taking care of ill people.”

Harris said the current thought is that if all American’s wore the N-95 masks there would not be ample supplies for health care providers “plus the cloth masks and surgical masks you can wear pretty much all day, the N-95 masks, they can be more difficult to wear, more uncomfortable.”

Assertion: Masks are dangerous to use.

Harris said doctors and nurses have been using masks “forever” and have not been getting sick from face mask use.

“There’s been a lot of studies that show you can wear masks for extended periods of time and have no adverse health outcomes,” Harris said. “There’s no risk of low oxygen if you’re an otherwise healthy person and carbon dioxide should flow freely in and out of a mask. It’s a small enough particle that it’s not going to get trapped in your mask or cause build-up in your lungs.”

Harris suggested that those who breathe through their mouths may feel more humidity in the mask making it more uncomfortable and suggested trying breathing through the nose instead.

“The masks are definitely not dangerous to wear,” Harris said. “It’s a simple thing people can do to protect others.”

When using a mask, Harris said it is important to wash hands before putting on or taking off a mask. Steward also noted that masks should be put on and taken off using the ear straps rather than touching the mask directly. She also suggested storing the mask in a brown bag rather than putting it up on the forehead or under the chin or wearing it around the arm.

“That’s only going to spread germs,” Steward said of improper mask storage between uses.

When using the mask Steward said it should be worn over both the nose and the mouth at the same time. Covering only the mouth with the nose out is “not effective.”

Harris said it also is important, as always, to avoid touching the eyes, nose or mouth when using a mask, noting she has heard people say mask use might cause more infections because it causes people to more often touch their faces. She suggested when wearing a mask people see it as a reminder to avoid touching the eyes, nose and mouth.

Steward said masks should only be used for one day between laundering or switching out to new, clean masks, noting in a health care setting masks typically are used for one shift before being switched out. Steward suggests following the manufacturer’s guidelines for laundering a mask and said some may need to air dry while others might be able to put into a dryer. Masks should be completely dry before use.

Harris advised that when absolutely necessary, masks can be taken off for a moment when 6-feet apart from another, but generally when in public, such as in a store aisle, even when alone, should be worn at all times to avoid leaving behind airborne droplets that could potentially get another person sick if breathed in.

Assertion: Masks are only being worn out of fear. The virus isn’t as dangerous as was initially thought.

Harris said the danger level depends on the population of people that a person is looking at, explaining that most likely for younger individuals and infants, the flu is perhaps more dangerous, but when it comes to the elderly population, or “in certain people, and we don’t really know why, that get COVID-19, they die from it, really without much warning, and it’s just an awful, awful death.”

“In that respect, it seems to be more contagious right now, and it seems that people that are elderly are especially prone to death and disability from this virus, whereas younger people and infants and young children, seem to be more prone to die from influenza. And [we] don’t know why that is.”

Harris said human beings don’t have any immunity to COVID-19, as it is a brand-new disease that our bodies, and human antibodies have not come into contact with to know how to fight the virus.

“You take an elderly person that’s medically fragile without any antibodies whatsoever, and it’s just a bad situation,” Harris said.

Currently, Harris said there also is not a vaccine that can help human bodies fight off coronavirus if transmission occurs.

Assertion: If I’m not sick or I’m social distancing, there’s no reason to wear a mask.

“But how do you know you’re not one of those asymptomatic individuals?” Steward asked in response to the statement. “You don’t know that. You don’t know that you could have COVID-19, that you’re actively shedding the virus, because you’re one of those lucky folks who don’t have symptoms.

“So not wearing the mask is not taking protection to those that you are around. … If you’re at home and you’re just in the back yard with the individuals in your household members, you don’t need to have a mask on, but when you are out in the public, that is being respectful of those people who are in public as well.”

Harris likened it to the Former Director of the Ohio Department of Health Dr. Amy Acton’s example of Swiss cheese, saying while social distancing is very effective, it isn’t 100% effective and adding a mask adds an additional layer of protection, and when everyone is wearing a mask those layers of protecting add up to help keep everyone more safe from transmission of the virus.

“Hand washing is still the most important one that we don’t talk about that much, but hand washing, mask wearing, social distancing, you put all of those together and the virus is very unlikely to survive, if it can’t find a host,” Harris said.

Assertion: It’s a free country, no one can make me wear a mask.

“It’s a free country but we still have speed limits,” Steward said. “I mean you probably can think of other scenarios as well. You’re wearing a mask to protect those who are most vulnerable and you don’t know from one person to the next, who that person is.”

Harris said she wasn’t sure that anyone could be forced to wear a mask but said, for those who are able, it is “the right thing to do.”

“Anyone 2 and up that’s otherwise healthy, there really is no risk or danger to wearing a mask and the ability to help save someone that’s elderly or medically fragile, I think it’s worth it,” Harris said. “I don’t know why you wouldn’t do it.”

DeWine’s statewide mask mandate at this time only applies to individuals age 10 and older who do not have other medical reasons for not wearing a mask, with some exceptions such as when a person is actively eating or leading a religious ceremony.

Specifically related to restaurants, Harris said restaurants have been doing a good job of planning for social distancing at the tables, allowing households to dine together without wearing masks and without having to worry as much about potentially spreading the disease to another household or individuals. But it’s a different story when walking to or from the tables or when visiting the bathroom, when walking past other people.

“If you cough or sneeze without your mask on you could infect [others you pass in the restaurant] if you’re asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic, and so I think it makes sense.”

Similarly, masks aren’t mandated when actively participating in physical activities or when outside when social distancing can be observed, but Harris said, even when outside, when 6-foot social distancing cannot be assured, mask use adds an extra layer of protection that will help cut down on the potential for virus transmission.