Masks shown to be ineffective against Covid-19

By Ilona C. Kritz July 6, 2020 Girl with a mask. (Photo from Pixabay) COMBATING the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is not an e...

By Ilona C. Kritz
July 6, 2020

Girl with a mask. (Photo from Pixabay)

COMBATING the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is not an easy task, as until now the Philippines has been recording more than 500 new cases on average daily. In an attempt to slow the infections and to protect you from getting the disease, the government has required everyone to wear masks in public. However, the latest studies show that masks will not protect you and will do a poor job in slowing the spread of the virus.

One recent study by doctors and researchers was conducted by placing four patients who had tested positive for Covid-19 in sterile, sealed rooms; in front of them was a petri dish. They were asked to cough first without wearing a mask, then while wearing a surgical mask, then a cotton mask, and then without a mask again.





After the test was conducted, the researchers swabbed both the interior and exterior of all masks. The exteriors of both kinds of masks had the virus, with the surgical mask having the highest concentration compared to the cotton one. The interiors of the masks tested negative, meaning the virus can easily pass through, and that the masks fail as a filter for the virus.

With the petri dish swab test, all tests, with or without a mask, tested positive for Covid-19 in the petri dish, despite being 20 centimeters away from the patients. While the cotton mask test showed the least concentration on the dish, it was still enough to possibly infect someone, thus proving the masks are ineffective for filtering Covid-19.





People had believed wearing a mask would protect you from the coronavirus since the same study was conducted for influenza and showed that masks are effective for filtering influenza viruses. It had been thought that it would be the same for Covid-19, but this study showed that this is not the case.

Wearing a mask is only worthwhile as an attempt to lessen the concentration of the virus getting out and infecting others, but it does not filter it completely. A mask won’t protect you from the virus; if you touch any surface with Covid-19 and then touch your mask, it is the same as rubbing your bare face. The mask does not filter the virus off and you will get infected.

To protect yourself, you are better off lessening your trips outdoors rather than going outside and feeling “safe” in your cheap surgical mask. Wear a cotton mask instead of a surgical one, since surgical masks filter Covid-19 very poorly. Don’t touch around your mask either, as your mask will not protect you from any virus on your hands.

The spread of Covid-19 does not seem as though it will slow down any time soon, and so far, our knowledge of it is very limited, with no sign of vaccine or cure being released in the near future. To protect ourselves and others, it is best to follow the guidance of any research we have right now rather than follow blindly what we believe; otherwise, we will not only harm ourselves but for others too.