Masks really can help

THERE is some renewed talk about new measures needed to tackle the rise in infections. Making masks compulsory has been one of the things suggested, for shops and public transport.

Mask-wearing is one part of the solution. The fabric alone will not, though, stop the virus particles. These are absolutely tiny – you need an eclectron microscope which magnifies 100,000 times to see the virus. Fabric masks cannot stop this from getting in, the virus is so small. But they do reduce spittle and so accidental transmission.

We all produce tiny, aerosolised particles when we breath out. It’s normal and it’s natural. If you’re not breathing, you’re dead.

Breathing people produce particles. The virus “hitches a lift” on these in infected people and so gets transmitted. The only masks which stop this directly are the medical

grade ones which NHS staff need.

Normal masks do three things which help. Firstly, they prevent infected droplets getting out (or in). Secondly, they send a powerful social signal to others and so we are all bonded and all alert. And thirdly, less well known, is that the masks keep the throat and nose warmer and more moist. This helps the mucus in your nose and throat to be more effective, and the mucus traps particles which get washed down into the stomach where powerful acids destroy the virus.

So if we wear the masks, we keep the nose and throat areas warmer and more moist, and the mucus there helps counter the virus.

So mask wearing really can help reduce infections and so save lives. Alan Lipton

Bristol