Masks are effective in stopping coronavirus
On an ornamented photo, an arrow points to a brown circle, labeled “virus,” which is apparently about to enter a hole in what appears to be a woven cloth. This meme claims that is a mask, which looks like a chain link fence, under 25 times magnification.
“Hey dumb dumbs,” says the photo, “Mask under microscope and virus as well at 25x. Enjoy your muzzle muppets.”
The widely shared meme went viral from the page of The California Patriot, where it has been shared nearly 250 times since it was posted on Aug. 1. “Mark wearing in public us (sic) nothing more than virtue signaling .... and the holes in cloth masks are worse,” a caption states.
When contacted by USA TODAY, The California Patriot said it was uncertain from where it shared the meme and had this to say: “There is conflicting information on both sides as to the effectiveness of mask wearing in public. The facts show that people are not catching Covid from random strangers in public.”
But unless you consider a mask a “muzzle” – or you’re a creature made of felt with a fondness for soft rock – nothing asserted in the meme is true.
How small is a virus?
Start with the brown globule labeled a “virus.” Viruses cannot be seen with optical magnifying microscopes, which go up to 1,000 times magnification, and can be imaged only by electron microscopes. At 25 times magnification, one wouldn’t be able to see cells, which are considerably bigger than viruses.
Dr. Molly Fleece, an assistant professor in the University of Alabama Birmingham’s Division of Infectious Diseases, wrote in an email Tuesday that “the object labeled ‘virus’ in this image does not resemble that of a coronavirus.”
“Each SARS-CoV-2 viron is between 70 and 120 nanometers in diameter,” she wrote. “A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter in length. Because these particles are so small, it would require a much higher magnification or resolution than 25x, as implied by this graphic.”
How face coverings work
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began recommending the use of masks in April.
“Wear cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain, such as grocery stores, pharmacies, and gas stations. Cloth face coverings may slow the spread of the virus and help people who may have the virus and do not know it from transmitting it to others,” guidance from the CDC states.
Effective masks stop the droplets and aerosols that can carry viruses to other people and potentially spread infections.
“The purpose of these face coverings isn’t to filter out these virus particles,” said Dr. Dean Winslow, an infectious disease physician with Stanford Health Care in Menlo Park, California, in a phone interview Monday. “The virus particles are not transmitted as naked particles. They’re part of small droplets or aerosols.”
Studies have shown widespread mask use can stop the transmission of those virus-carrying particles.
A Duke University study released on Aug. 7 found that N95 masks, surgical masks and cotton masks performed well in stopping droplet transmission during regular speech. (Neck fleeces and folded bandannas offered “very little protection.”)
A study published in Health Affairs in June that looked at the effect of mask mandates from March 31 to May 22 found that the face mask requirements cut transmission rates by 2% after 21 days of use. In Springfield, Missouri, officials credit regular maskwearing for preventing two hairstylists who later tested positive for COVID-19 from transmitting the virus to 140 of their clients.
A July 15 mask order appears to have reduced Alabama’s COVID-19 caseload. The state’s seven-day average of new cases reached 1,849 on July 20. On Aug. 17, the average stood at 744.
Our ruling: False
We rate this claim FALSE based on our research. A viron that causes COVID-19 is too small to see with a 25x microscope. Further, viruses are transmitted attached to aerosol molecules that are stopped by masks. Studies of masks show them to be effective deterrents against the virus that causes COVID-19.