On the 21st of June, many of us will be roaming the streets for a music festival. Take advantage of picnics without a mask, a measure in effect since Thursday, June 17. And to live our first evening without a curfew. The winds of absolute freedom!
Only wearing a mask indoors is required until further notice. According to Inserm, “wearing a mask in enclosed spaces slows the spread of epidemics.” Regarding Covid-19, a comprehensive analysis of 172 studies published in June 2020 in The Lancet highlighted a lower risk of infection associated with mask-wearing in confined public spaces. And this protective reflex goes beyond the spread of Covid-19. As early as 2010, studies concluded that the recommendation to wear a mask was a beneficial public health measure in combating influenza epidemics. “
yourself and others
Let us also note the integrated function of the mask: “More than just a tool for self-protection, the mask is useful above all to protect others because it makes it possible to avoid dropping droplets in their direction,” the Inserm specialist elaborates. For optimum efficiency, it is essential that everyone wears a mask indoors. “Because transmission of the virus can come from people with few or even no symptoms, mask-wearing is only useful if it is worn by everyone at the community level (not just by a handful of individuals or by the sick), in places where it is not guaranteed Physical distancing, in order to protect others and slow the epidemic.”
Beyond the mask, also trust your intuition, for example by wearing it as soon as the crowd turns around! Another argument in favor of keeping mask-wearing indoors: A study published by Martin Bazant and John Bush, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology* highlights the futility of social distancing indoors to reduce the risk of infection. There is a point discussed by the fact that transmission of the virus will occur in the same way at a height of 1 meter as at 3 meters. SARS-CoV-2 is actually transmitted through surrounding air infected with suspended fine droplets, not by direct dropping of fine droplets from one person to another through coughing or sneezing.
Note: To stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2 as much as possible, mask-wearing goes hand in hand with regular hand washing (or using hydro-alcoholic solutions.
*Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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