Devon
Beat-Face Mask efficiency
Student Reporter
Face masks have been the new normal for months as the covid-19 pandemic sweeps the world. Some masks are ineffective at keeping you safe but are comfortable, and others can keep pathogens out of your lungs very well but may not be very fun to wear. The risks of catching Covid-19 rise when your face mask is designed for comfort.
Recently students and staff around the school of Gleneagle have been seen wearing masks that don’t work efficiently enough for others and their own safety. Masks such as “Face shields” and mesh do not have the same amount of safety as the white/blue ear loop masks you can buy at the dollar store. But even with these protective masks people are still putting others in danger by taking their masks off in school grounds when alone and in groups.
“Not only are they taking their masks off outdoors, but I have seen classmates take their masks off when having a conversation.” Said Ava Zidar, a Gleneagle student. “It makes me angry that people don’t care about the virus and that they will impact others without thinking.”
Online you see many people coming up with cool designs for masks when some of them are made of a mesh that will not protect you in the slightest. A reliable way that you can use to put a mask to the test would be to try and blow out a candle, if you can extinguish the flame, that means too much air is getting through the mask making it useless.
“Every time we utter just a couple of words, we spray thousands of aerosol droplets which are mostly invisible to the naked eye, into the air in front of us.” Said Matthais Echternach, head of phoniatrics and paediatric audiology at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Hospital Munich. “Larger droplets fly forward and downwards to land on surfaces about 1.5m away. Coughing could send aerosols even further, up to 1.9m, while other studies have shown that a sneeze can project aerosol clouds up to 8 meters away.”
Protective masks usually have classic ear-loops made from cotton or Spunbond Polyproporene. But as protective as they are you must wear them properly, covering your mouth and nose.
“If you wear your mask with an airway exposed, then that defeats the purpose for what these masks are doing for us” Said Ethan Jiu, a Gleneagle student. “I think the only time that we should ever be able to take our mask off is when we eat, we should stay a distance away from others as we do so”. Food is a necessary need that cannot be shoved though ours masks. The only way is to take it off but be more cautious about your surroundings.
The rules of Covid are changing more and more as Covid-19 cases increase, now, you are supposed to not have close friends to your house or anybody who doesn’t live there. The rules of having your bubble of friends that you may be safe around is now not to be done anymore. But still students have been seen taking their masks off with their bubble of friends, maybe we can make it change and have students keep their masks on for the good of the school.
Now that schools are using these new rules about the virus, it’s a shame that some are choosing to endanger others and themselves when other people have done the necessary work to stay safe with proper masks and sanitation.
