Mask sales up – but do they work?
THE coronavirus outbreak has led to a surge in sales of face masks, even though experts have cast doubt over their effectiveness.
According to the US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the best precautions against the virus are washing your hands frequently, trying not to touch your face and avoiding close contact with those who are ill.
There are two main types of face mask. N95 respirators, which are generally used to combat smoke or heavy pollution, block out particles as small as
0.3 microns in diameter – but the coronavirus is 0.12 microns wide.
Surgical masks, which rarely filter particles smaller than 5 microns, are more common but far less effective. However, a study published in The Lancet reported how a seven-year-old child from Wuhan who wore a mask was not infected – in contrast to her ten-year-old brother who did not.
Professor Stanley Perlman, from the University of Iowa, said: ‘Wearing a mask may stop an individual from directly touching their mouth and nose, which is a common way that viruses and germs enter the body, but what we teach is that they’re not very good.’
There is mounting concern about of a shortage of masks in China. ‘From what I have heard, the mask shortage is much more severe than what the public knows,’ said Cao Jun, general manager of Chinese mask manufacturer Lanhine.
‘Almost all hospital workers nationwide are facing a huge shortage, not just in Wuhan.’
Taobao, the Chinese equivalent of Amazon, has urged sellers not to profit from the deadly virus after prices rose from £20 for a pack of 20 masks to more than £120.
Meanwhile, a pharmacy at Edinburgh University sold more than a year’s worth of masks in a single day as Chinese students began panic-buying.
Leading airlines say they will provide protective gear to any cabin crew and passengers who request them.