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The Science and Tech of Face Masks
I put my money (and my body) on the line to teach you everything about COVID-19 masks
When the CDC starts publishing sewing tutorials, you know things have gotten weird. As COVID-19 has spread worldwide, though, that’s the strange new world we’re living in.
When the COVID-19 crisis first began, the Centers for Disease Control in the the United States, and the World Health Organization internationally, came down strongly against healthy citizens wearing face masks. In some ways, that made sense at the time. Most masks don’t protect the wearer from infection, and there’s a risk that they’ll provide a false sense of security.
Just as seatbelts and airbags make people drive faster, wearing a face cover can convince people that they’re fully protected from the coronavirus, prompting them to go out more, touch their face, and skip steps that really do protect them, like the simple step of washing their hands. Initially, there was also the concern that people would buy up medical grade masks, taking these out of the hands of the front-line medical professionals who actually need them.
As the coronavirus crisis wears on and social distancing measures continue to intensify, the CDC has made a dramatic about-face. Acknowledging that masks protect others from…
