New study proves that wearing masks can help prevent virus spread
Written by Site Hub on May 15, 2020
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences recently published a peer-reviewed report by researchers with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the University of Pennsylvania that seems to prove that masks help decrease the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses.
Using a laser light, the researchers checked the distribution of small, speech-related aerosol droplets and found that a thousand droplets or more become airborne when a person starts speaking. The droplets remain airborne between eight and 14 minutes after a person stops speaking. A loud speech creates thousands of small droplets per second.
Many scientists and researchers believe that a virus needs to be carried in large droplets to spread effectively, but experts in various fields have started to look at smaller droplets as well. In confined spaces where people often talk loudly to be heard, such as in call centers, restaurants, bars, and clubs, small droplets in high volumes from loud speech might cause the rapid spread of a virus in crowds.
A virologist with Texas A&M University-Texarkana, Benjamin Neuman, told the Washington Post: “This study is the most accurate measure of the size, number and frequency of droplets that leave the mouth during a normal conversation and shower any listeners within range… it builds a strong circumstantial case that droplets produced in a normal close conversation would be large enough and frequent enough to create a high risk of spreading SARS-CoV-2 or any other respiratory virus between people who are not wearing face masks.”
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