CDC Says Face Masks Protect Both The Wearer & Those Around Them
The CDC now says face masks protect the people wearing them, so maybe selfish jerks will shut up about their rights and start wearing them
As we learn more and more about the novel coronavirus and COVID-19, public health agencies like the CDC have been continually updating their guidelines to reflect the most current knowledge about how people can best protect themselves and those around them. The CDC has been begging Americans to wear face masks since all the way back in April, but has always said that wearing a mask is more for the protection of those around you. Now, with new scientific evidence, the agency has updated its guidelines to show that masks can also provide protection to their wearers.
According to new guidance on the CDC website, face masks both act as “source control” to block viral particles that are exhaled by the person wearing them, and provide “filtration for personal protection” by filtering out some of the viral particles you might breathe in when around an infected person.
To back up its new guidelines, the CDC pointed to a number of studies, which have shown that widespread use of face masks can reduce transmission of the virus by more than 70 percent. The CDC also pointed to well-publicized incidents, like when two infected hair stylists worked on clients who wore masks, and didn’t pass the virus on to a single one of their 67 combined clients.
The CDC also pointed to air travel, where mask-wearing is rigorously enforced and very few, if any, outbreaks have occurred among travelers or airline staff.
“Adopting universal masking policies can help avert future lockdowns, especially if combined with other non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing, hand hygiene, and adequate ventilation,” the CDC wrote.
There are even economic benefits — the CDC says that universal adoption face masks would allow enough people to return to their usual economic and spending activities, and prevent a further $1 trillion in losses for American businesses. There’s literally no downside to wearing a mask, folks.
So will this be the change that finally gets selfish assholes to wear masks in public? You know who I’m talking about — all those Americans who heard that this simple change to their routine could protect others around them, and instead of doing the right thing, they threw tantrums about “muh rights and liberty.” And I do mean literal tantrums. Now that the anti-maskers might find out that face masks will serve their own selfish interests, will they actually get on board with public health guidelines? We can only hope.
