Since the introduction of containment several months ago, the mask has become mandatory in many places. Although the deconfinement has started, the mask remains in particular compulsory in public transport. Protection against the virus that some still consider useless. A scientist has simply demonstrated the effectiveness of the mask in spreading the virus.
Only 42 seconds are required
Last week, Richard Davis, head of the clinical microbiology laboratory at the Providence Sacred Heart Medical center in the city of Spokane, in the state of Washington, in the United States, summed up with a little experience the importance of the mask in the spread of the virus. To do this, nothing could be simpler, he sneezed, sang, spoke and coughed, with and without a mask, each time facing a Petri dish.
What does a mask do? Blocks respiratory droplets coming from your mouth and throat.
Two simple demos:
First, I sneezed, sang, talked & coughed toward an agar culture plate with or without a mask. Bacteria colonies show where droplets landed. A mask blocks virtually all of them. pic.twitter.com/ETUD9DFmgU
June 26, 2020
Bacteria quickly colonize boxes filled with gelatin when the transparent lid lets us see the results. Without appeal, they quickly and easily demonstrate how effective the mask is. Almost all of the bacteria are blocked by the mask, thereby preventing the virus from spreading.
the importance of social distancing
Critics of wearing masks generally attack social distancing at the same time. A safety distance which Richard Davis wished to prove the effectiveness through a similar experiment. He then placed Petri dishes at 61 cm, 122 cm and 183 cm before coughing hard for 15 seconds each time, with and without a mask.
What about keeping your distance?
Second demo: I set open bacteria culture plates 2, 4 and 6 feet away and coughed (hard) for ~15s. I repeated this without a mask.
As seen by number of bacteria colonies, droplets mostly landed <6 ft, but a mask blocked nearly all of them. pic.twitter.com/8wDdvIHHMa
June 26, 2020
Again, the result is undeniable. The mask will protect you, but also others, when the distance will come to ensure that your companions are out of range. Even if the results are not “scientific”, they testify to the effectiveness of masks and social distancing, by means of glaring images of truth.
