Masking Out COVID-19: CDC Updates Recommendations on Face Coverings

April 4, 2020 - San Antonio, Texas

Surgeon General, Dr. Jerome Adams, shares ways to create your own face covering in a few easy steps. (Source: CDC YouTube Channel)

Article By Jonathan Guajardo - Publisher/Editor-In-Chief, San Antonio Sentinel

Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated their guidelines regarding the usage of face coverings to slow the spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). In the weeks leading up to this announcement, the CDC maintained their previous stance that masks were not necessary for running errands or daily chores. However, due to recent findings showcasing how easily the virus can spread from asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic individuals, the organization decided that the guidelines would need to be altered.

The White House echoed these findings in a press conference Friday night, when President Trump suggested that people wear “non-medical” cloth coverings over their faces when out in public. The President further emphasized that citizens could defend themselves against the virus with such simple household items as a scarf. U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Jerome Adams, also released a video earlier today explaining how to make a face mask from some common household items.

Although face masks and face coverings aren’t fool proof and shouldn’t be anyone’s only line of defense against contracting COVID-19, they nonetheless can have a positive impact on reducing your chances of contracting the illness or passing on the illness if you have already contracted the virus and are currently asymptomatic. The most effective masks are N95 respirator masks which are currently sold out at most marketplaces, but can be often be obtained (usually for a sizable mark-up price) from third-party sellers. These masks are highly effective due to their tight-fit which reduces leakage around the mask’s edges and their NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) approved filtration system which filters out 95% of airborne particles.

In yesterday’s release by the CDC, they emphasized that their recommendations do not replace the President’s 30 Days to Slow the Spread Coronavirus Guidelines and they still don’t recommend using surgical masks or N95 respirators. “Those are critical supplies that must continue to be reserved for health care workers and other medical first responders, as recommended,” stated the release on CDC.gov.

Next in the hierarchy of facial coverings are surgical masks. These loose-fitting coverings do not completely seal the wearer’s mouth and nose from the surrounding environment. They are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration but, according to CDC literature, do “not provide the wearer with a reliable level of protection from inhaling smaller airborne particles and is not considered respiratory protection.” These masks are sometimes handed out to patients at clinics to prevent the spread of respiratory illnesses by already infected patients, but are not necessarily intended to keep healthy people from contracting sicknesses if in close contact with a symptomatic person.

The new CDC recommendation regarding facial coverings finds its grounding both in science and simple common sense. If multiple layers are used, such as in the U.S. Surgeon General’s recommended cloth mask design, the droplets should be trapped behind the fabric when the wearer sneezes or coughs. Similarly, if airborne particles are floating in a confined space, the mask will help prevent the wearer from inhaling them into their respiratory system better than if they were to be wearing no facial covering at all. Like surgical masks, however, these coverings should not be counted on as the only preventative method employed by the wearer and should always be used in conjunction with proper hand-washing techniques and social distancing of at least six feet. Only time will tell, however, if these new implementations will help flatten the curve of Coronavirus in San Antonio and the rest of the country.

Jonathan Guajardo is the Editor-in-Chief at the San Antonio Sentinel. He can be reached at jonathan@sasentinel.com.