What? Common sense tells you exactly why it is true. When you breath through a mask it diffuses your breath preventing it from effectively traveling the 6 foot social distancing. With a mask your exhaled breath stays in a cloud around you. Without a mask you shoot your breath out into the world. On inhaling, diffusing it really doesn't matter... it all goes down your throat regardless
That is the theory and there is some evidence that it is true, but the effectivity has not been proven. Common sense: yes.... proven science: no.
Maybe I've misunderstood the way the masks are supposed to work. I'm willing to admit I'm wrong...
BUT, I thought the theory behind the mask was not diffusion, but filtration. Perhaps we should be specific about the type of mask. I'm thinking about the N95 masks. Isn't the "95" an indicator of the percentage of airborne particles effectively filterd?
I think of it this way--If I sneeze or cough wearing a mask of any kind, the distance droplets travel will be reduced greatly and the number that escape to the environment will likewise be fewer in total (presuming the mask stays put). And same goes for anybody near me who sneezes. Or walked where I'm walking minutes later (far more important indoors than out).
Droplets should be stopped/slowed even with a larger pore size. IDK whether the viruses can also cling to dust and other particulates. Nothing I've read suggests they float around in the air column by their tiny viral selves but OTOH an infected person can transmit lacking symptoms, e.g., coughing and sneezing, so just breathing close? All this detail is still unfolding, and not in any particular sequence.
If only I had some masks.
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