Science Vs - Mini Mask Update

Episode Date: September 1, 2020

MASKS. Since the early days of the pandemic, it’s been tough to nail down how much they can really do to slow down the spread of the virus. We speak to industrial hygienist Dr. Rachael Jones and share some new science that puts the final nail in the coffin of this debate (*hint* yes, you should wear a mask — your friends, family and neighbors too).  Here’s a link to our transcript: https://bit.ly/3lH5grh This episode was produced by Michelle Dang, with help from Wendy Zukerman, Rose Rimler, Hannah Harris Green and Nick DelRose. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Mix and sound design by Peter Leonard. Music written by Peter Leonard, Marcus Bagala, Emma Munger, and Bobby Lord. And special thanks to the Zukerman family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it's Wendy here with a very quick masks update. So last season, you might recall that we made a bunch of episodes about this new virus. It's called the coronavirus. And one question just came up over and over again. Does wearing masks in public actually slow the spread of this virus? And early on, we at Science Versus actually weren't sure on this, because there just wasn't that much evidence showing that masks, and particularly cloth masks, could really keep us from spreading this virus. That was back in spring though, which feels like

a lifetime ago. Wet-arse pussy was just a glimmer in Cardi B's eye. And since then, more and more evidence has started trickling out about masks. Like, at first, there were some concerns that wearing masks might make people touch their face more. But then, a study of over 7,000 people came out showing that those who wore masks actually touched their face a lot less, which is great because it suggests that wearing a mask doesn't increase your risk of getting infected. Yes, they can be uncomfortable, but there's really no reason to not wear a mask. This is Dr. Rachel Jones from the University of Utah. And when we spoke to Rachel in our first episode on masks back in March, she was pretty poo-pooey about cloth masks.

But since then, things have changed. So given the evidence that we have now, are you on team mask? Yeah, for the general public, I think that it's reasonable to wear cloth masks. I think that evidence is increasing that when many people in a community are wearing masks consistently, fewer people are getting the disease. So, for example, there have been more and more studies coming out showing that in places where people wear masks, they tend to have lower cases of coronavirus. And then there's this case study that was written up by the CDC. There were two hairstylists in Missouri who had been working while they were sick with COVID. They'd seen more than a hundred clients while they were sick.

Yet everyone, the stylists and the clients, wore masks, mostly cloth or surgical. None of the clients got sick. The thinking is still that surgical masks and N95s are the best if you can get them, but more lab studies looking at how stuff comes out of your mouth are also making cloth masks look worthwhile, particularly if you add layers. And while this all might feel like science has flip-flopped, done the old switcheroo on you, the nerd truth is that this all actually shows that when it comes to this pandemic, science is working. We get more data, we change our minds. So science is a complicated process. And the whole purpose of that is that our ideas and our knowledge evolve over time as we gather more evidence. And that's a totally natural and desirable process

for science. My final question, it comes from one of our listeners, whose name is Bruce, and he asks, how well do masks protect me if I can still smell someone's flatulence? Rachel, we've come to you with the most serious and pressing questions of this coronavirus. And I demand an answer. Okay. Well, the flatulence odor is the result of some specific molecules that are in the gas that is emitted. And those molecules are much smaller than the SARS virus or any kind of respiratory droplets. So you should get better protection against droplets and particles than you will against a fart if you wear a mask.

Sorry, Bruce. Even though masks can't protect you from farticles, you should still pop one on to protect you from viral particles. That's it for Citations on this episode. You just need to go to our transcript. There's a link in our show notes. I'm Wendy Zuckerman. I'll back to you on Thursday.