This is something I’ve heard a lot, and assuming it’s true, what’s the science behind it? Surely holes in masks are the same size no matter whether the germs are heading in or out, but I’m guessing it’s not about the holes and I’m missing something.
Obligatory disclaimer: I’m not an anti-masker, I’m still wearing it in shops for example. This is just me wanting to understand.
In: Biology
If you sneeze or cough, where does you r snot and phlegm go? Now put a mask on.
Clear?
Partly the saying is overselling a bit, masks do help both ways, they’re just more effective at stopping spreading than they are at stopping catching.
It’s because when you cough/sneeze/breath it’s not just gases that leave your mouth, there’s lots of small water droplets as well.
The water droplets either fall straight to the floor because they’re too heavy or they float around and might slowly evaporate away leaving just the virus and whatever else behind.
Masks are very good at stopping droplets which have recently been released but they’re less effective the smaller they get, the droplets are biggest when they’re first sneezed/coughed so that’s when a mask has the best effect.
Also not all masks are equal, if you get yourself a good enough mask then it will basically be just as good either way.
Thes best thing i saw was the Pee in pants example.
Someone was about to pee on themself….
If you are wearing paints, but they are not you have a high chance to be contacted with pee
If you arent wearing pants, but they are they will pee thier own pants. if you are close enough to them you could still get wet but its unlikely
If both you and they are wearing pants you have the best chance not to get wet
It reduces your spray from about 2m, to about just Infront of your mask.
Here is a good demonstration: https://youtu.be/x6cTDGqcUpA
It can’t protect you from the virus much as the virus can get in your eyes and such.
It’s very simple
Both you and another guy don’t wear pants: he pees on you and you get wet
Only you wear pants: he still pees on you, but you’re not as wet
Both of you wear pants: he only pees on himself, any droplets get caught on your pants and you don’t get wet
Let’s imagine that you are not wearing pants, you are drunk, and you just randomly piss. You might randomly piss on someone else. And no one else is wearing pants either so when they piss, they piss on you. Now imagine that you put on pants. And now when you piss the piss is mostly stopped by your pants and very little of it will get on anyone else. Other people would have to touch your pants to get your piss on them. But other people can still piss on your pants if they are not wearing pants. You still get their piss on your pants and it will soak through and your legs get wet from piss. Now imagine that everyone is wearing pants. Everyone pisses on their own pants and no one gets pissed on.
Okay, so many people in here are saying that you primarily catch Covid from surfaces.
This is very much **not true**
We don’t. It’s actually extremely rare.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00251-4
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7333993/
The more important reason here is the aerosol concentration in the air. When there’s a lot of particles that carry Covid in the air, some of those particles will simply find a way to squeeze by your mask, be it through a crack or some of the fibers of a non-FFP2 mask.
This is obviously more likely to happen at higher concentration.
This is the biggest thing: The amount of Covid is in the air is the most important factor.
By wearing masks, **most** of the particles you exhale will be trapped in your mask. This reduces the concentration in the air around you and makes it safer for every other person in the room.
Guys, I say this very often on here, but please validate what you are saying before saying it. There’s large amounts of misinformation in here.
I think minutephysics on YouTube gave the best explanation in their video [*Why Masks Work Better Than You Think*](https://youtu.be/Y47t9qLc9I4)
While we’re breathing out, our germs are in the water vapor of our breath. Imagine blowing a bubble. (With germs inside it lol) YOUR mask catches YOUR breath on the way out because of this vapor. Ever notice how after wearing your mask for a bit, it’s moist/ humid inside?
But if you’re not wearing a mask and you breathe out all these germs, after floating around in the air awhile, then yeah, the water vapor kinda wears out until it’s just the germs, and then they can fit through unfiltered masks. But obviously as everyone else said, the greater risk is touching stuff the germs have managed to spread to.
The best analogy I found was imagine you have a penis and you’re pissing yourself.
If you don’t have pants on. Other people near you will get wet regardless of whether they have pants on of not
If you do have pants on only you will get wet
Germs/cold viruses usually spread through tiny water particles that humans breathe out all the time and a decent mask stops them
Latest Answers