How close can you get with masks on? Your mask questions answered
Emily Chung, Kieran McMurchy, Tyler Bloomfield, Cheryl Brown
If we're wearing masks, do we still have to distance?
Yes, distancing is still required, as regular medical and non-medical masks only reduce the number of particles from your nose and mouth. They don't eliminate them, says Dr. Anand Kumar, associate professor of medicine at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. (Respirator masks such as N95s do a much better job of filtering particles.)
While most masks reduce particle spread by about 80 per cent, "that leaves 20 per cent of particles still going out. How far? Nobody really knows," he told CBC News.
But the greater the distance, the greater the protection, whether you're wearing a mask or not. Doubling the distance between you and another person reduces the viral particles reaching you about eightfold, Kumar said. And wearing a mask should cause the larger, most-infectious particles to drop close to an infected mask wearer before they can reach another person.
So, how close can you get if you're both wearing masks?
There's no definite answer, says Martin Fischer, an associate professor of chemistry at Duke University in Durham, N.C., who has studied how to measure the effectiveness of different masks. That's because the risks depend on so many factors, such as how well the masks worn by each person stop particles and how long you interact.
Kumar and other experts note that approaches such as masking and distancing should be thought of as "layers" of protection that are "worn" together and aren't replacements for one another.
"It's not one or the other ... it's as many as you can do that gives you maximum protection."
Ian McKay, an Australian virologist, illustrates this using the analogy of Swiss cheese — the virus can make it through the holes in some slices, but if you have many layers, it won't get through the whole block of cheese.
Is it safe to kiss someone if we're both wearing masks?
That's probably not a good idea.
Canada's chief public health officer has advised Canadians to skip kissing and wear a mask when getting intimate with a new partner to protect yourself from the coronavirus.
If you lean in very close — like you would for a kiss — you could unintentionally exchange droplets from breath around the sides of a mask, explained Colin Furness, an infection control epidemiologist at the University of Toronto, which could lead to transmission of the virus.
With many parts of the country experiencing increased community transmission, Sumon Chakrabarti, an infectious disease physician with Trillium Health Partners in Mississauga, Ont., said it is best to follow local public health guidelines, which include minimizing close contact with people outside your immediate household.
WATCH | Doctors answer questions about what activities and places are higher risk for COVID-19
Is there any evidence that masks protect the wearer at all?
It depends on the mask.
There are two main categories of masks:
But yes, there is some evidence that they can protect the wearer, too, including a metanalysis of 172 previous studies published this spring.
Lab experiments suggest they can block roughly 80 per cent of viral particles from entering your nose and mouth, and that can reduce the dose and therefore the severity of COVID-19 infection if you do become infected.
There's even better evidence that when most people wear masks, everyone is protected.
"We're seeing, as we put all the data together, that masks can be broadly helpful in reducing transmission from person to person outside of health-care settings and even just in the general community," said Dr. Suzy Hota, medical director for infection prevention and control at the University Health Network in Toronto.
Emily Chung, Kieran McMurchy, Tyler Bloomfield, Cheryl Brown
If we're wearing masks, do we still have to distance?
Yes, distancing is still required, as regular medical and non-medical masks only reduce the number of particles from your nose and mouth. They don't eliminate them, says Dr. Anand Kumar, associate professor of medicine at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. (Respirator masks such as N95s do a much better job of filtering particles.)
While most masks reduce particle spread by about 80 per cent, "that leaves 20 per cent of particles still going out. How far? Nobody really knows," he told CBC News.
But the greater the distance, the greater the protection, whether you're wearing a mask or not. Doubling the distance between you and another person reduces the viral particles reaching you about eightfold, Kumar said. And wearing a mask should cause the larger, most-infectious particles to drop close to an infected mask wearer before they can reach another person.
So, how close can you get if you're both wearing masks?
There's no definite answer, says Martin Fischer, an associate professor of chemistry at Duke University in Durham, N.C., who has studied how to measure the effectiveness of different masks. That's because the risks depend on so many factors, such as how well the masks worn by each person stop particles and how long you interact.
Kumar and other experts note that approaches such as masking and distancing should be thought of as "layers" of protection that are "worn" together and aren't replacements for one another.
"It's not one or the other ... it's as many as you can do that gives you maximum protection."
Ian McKay, an Australian virologist, illustrates this using the analogy of Swiss cheese — the virus can make it through the holes in some slices, but if you have many layers, it won't get through the whole block of cheese.
Is it safe to kiss someone if we're both wearing masks?
That's probably not a good idea.
Canada's chief public health officer has advised Canadians to skip kissing and wear a mask when getting intimate with a new partner to protect yourself from the coronavirus.
If you lean in very close — like you would for a kiss — you could unintentionally exchange droplets from breath around the sides of a mask, explained Colin Furness, an infection control epidemiologist at the University of Toronto, which could lead to transmission of the virus.
With many parts of the country experiencing increased community transmission, Sumon Chakrabarti, an infectious disease physician with Trillium Health Partners in Mississauga, Ont., said it is best to follow local public health guidelines, which include minimizing close contact with people outside your immediate household.
WATCH | Doctors answer questions about what activities and places are higher risk for COVID-19
Is there any evidence that masks protect the wearer at all?
It depends on the mask.
There are two main categories of masks:
- Respirators such as N95s, which do protect the wearer and are therefore worn by medical staff who treat COVID-19 patients.
- Regular surgical or non-medical masks, which are designed mainly to stop particles exhaled from your nose or mouth from getting too far from you.
But yes, there is some evidence that they can protect the wearer, too, including a metanalysis of 172 previous studies published this spring.
Lab experiments suggest they can block roughly 80 per cent of viral particles from entering your nose and mouth, and that can reduce the dose and therefore the severity of COVID-19 infection if you do become infected.
There's even better evidence that when most people wear masks, everyone is protected.
"We're seeing, as we put all the data together, that masks can be broadly helpful in reducing transmission from person to person outside of health-care settings and even just in the general community," said Dr. Suzy Hota, medical director for infection prevention and control at the University Health Network in Toronto.
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