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媒體：Forbes
作者：Tara Haelle

No, You DO NOT Need Face Masks For Coronavirus—They Might Increase Your Infec
tion Risk

防範冠狀病毒，不需要戴口罩
戴了恐增加感染率


文長，我只翻譯部分，剩下自己看，反正八卦板都英文流利。

Community transmission of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus,
 has officially begun in the U.S., with two cases in California and one in Ore
gon of unknown origin. The first COVID death was reported Saturday, Feb. 29, i
n Seattle. The natural human response to a strange, new disease making its way
 to a neighborhood near you is to feel anxiety and want to DO SOMETHING. That
’s why many people have been buying up and stockpiling masks. But even if you
 could buy any in the midst of global shortages, should you??

No.


就算買到口罩，要買嗎？

不要。

And if you already have masks, should you wear them when you’re out??

No.?

如果家裡有口罩，要帶嗎？

不要。

Even if there are COVID cases in your community?

即使有社區感染，要戴口罩嗎？

不要。

Even if there are cases next door, the answer is no, you do NOT need to get or
 wear any face masks—surgical masks, “N95 masks,” respirator masks, or anyt
hing else—to protect yourself against the coronavirus. Not only do you not ne
ed them, you shouldn’t wear them, according to湶nfection prevention specialis
t Eli Perencevich, MD, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at the Univers
ity of Iowa’s College of Medicine.?

愛荷華大學醫學院傳染病學教授說的。

“The average healthy person does not need to have a mask, and they shouldn’t
 be wearing masks,” Dr. Perencevich said. “There’s no evidence that wearing
 masks on healthy people will protect them. They wear them incorrectly, and th
ey can increase the risk of infection because they’re touching their face mor
e often.”?

一般健康的人不需要戴口罩，也不應戴口罩。沒有證據顯示口罩可以保護他們。如果穿戴
不正確，甚至還會因為經常碰觸臉部而增加感染機率。

But even if you know what you’re doing and you tie your hands behind your bac
k, you still don’t need to wear a mask.?

Only Wear A Mask If You’re Sick
生病才應戴口罩。

First of all, most people buying masks are not getting one that stops the viru
s from reaching their mouth or nose anyway. The coronavirus is transmitted thr
ough droplets, not through the air. That means you cannot randomly breathe it
in, but it also means the standard surgical mask you see people wearing will n
ot help. Those masks are designed to溆eep droplets in—not to keep them out—a
nd are intended to keep the wearer from getting others sick.?



“The one time you would want a mask is if you’re sick and you have to leave
the house,” Dr. Perencevich said. “If you have the flu or think you have COV
ID, that’s when you’d put on a mask to protect others. In your house, if you
 feel like you’re sick, you should wear a mask to protect your family members
”?

ETA 3/1/20: If you are caring for someone with COVID in your home, it is wise
to wear a mask when in close proximity to that person, who should also wear a
mask, Dr. Perencevich said. Consult a healthcare provider for the correct way
to wear and dispose of the mask, or consult this汢xcellent explainer from the
World Health Organization. For those concerned about being able to get a mask
if you or a household member becomes ill with COVID, the emergency department
or clinic where you are diagnosed should them to you. The sick individual shou
ld ask for one immediately upon arriving at the healthcare facility.

[ETA 3/1/20: There has been some question about whether this coronavirus is “
airborne” and what that means. The virus is not airborne using the scientific
 definition used for漤athogens澵uch as濳uberculosis漑r滟easles. Droplets might
 become aerosolized for some viruses, but there is not yet evidence showing th
at this coronavirus can be breathed in when a nearby infected individual exhal
es. Most research into this question focuses on influenza, such as濳his 2018 s
tudy澵uggesting the flu virus can be aerosolized in exhalations without coughi
ng or sneezing. This evidence is preliminary, and it remains an open scientifi
c question whether (and which) droplet-based respiratory viruses are transmitt
ed this way. So far, all documented transmission for COVID cases has involved
droplets. ]

What Does Keep The Virus Out?

The type of face covering that reduces exposure to airborne particles—includi
ng protecting the wearer from viruses and bacteria—is氲alled a respirator. Th
e type of personal protection equipment (PPE) that healthcare workers wear whe
n treating someone with a serious contagious disease is a medical respirator.

As?3M, a major manufacturer of masks and respirators, explains, medical respir
ators do both: they protect the wearer from getting sick and protect the patie
nt from the wearer’s germs. That’s where the confusion in terms—using “mas
k” and “respirator” interchangeably—often comes from. From here on in this
 article, assume “mask” refers to a respirator.

These medical respirators/masks must have an efficiency rating of “N95,” “F
FP2,” or a similar rating that refers to how many particles—and of what size
—can’t get through. The CDC has a烀ebpage listing乸ll the approved respirato
rs for personal protection.

Disposable medical respirators can resemble standard surgical masks but must b
e thrown away after one use because they become contaminated with the particle
s they’re filtering out. Reusable respirators, which use replaceable filters,
 are the ones that make you look like a giant insect.

So Why Shouldn’t I Get An N95 Medical Respirator??

The people who wear medical respirators have received training in how to wear
them to protect themselves, such as ensuring the mask forms an airtight seal w
ith their face.?

But even then, “no matter how well a respirator seals to the face and how eff
icient the filter media is, wearers should expect a small amount of leakage in
side any respirators,” 3M notes. “No respirator will eliminate exposures ent
irely.”?

Not using—or disposing of—a respirator mask correctly can increase infection
 risk because it is literally trapping all the stuff in the air you’re trying
 to avoid, and many people end up touching their face absent-mindedly.


Wearing a mask is tricky because it can create a false sense of security,” Dr
 Perencevich said. “If you don’t wash your hands before you take off the ma
sk and after you take off your mask, you could increase your risk.”

Even if you believe you will be careful enough to wear, use, and dispose of th
e mask properly, buying these masks in the midst of existing shortages makes i
t harder for hospitals and healthcare workers who actually need them to get th
em.?

“The most concerning thing is if our healthcare workers are sick and have to
stay home, then we lose the doctors and nurses we need to get through this out
break,” said Dr. Perencevich, who澑ecently tweeted concerns乸bout the “poten
tial crisis” of N95 respirator scarcity.

US Surgeon General Jerome Adams, MD, has even漤leaded on Twitter, “Seriously
people-STOP BUYING MASKS!” Aside from their ineffectiveness in protecting the
 general public, he said, “if healthcare providers can’t get them to care fo
r sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!”

Disturbingly, Dr. Perencevich has even heard from colleagues who saw people wa
lking out of hospitals with boxes of masks. ?

“We really need to get the message out not to take the masks from the hospita
ls,” he said. “We’ve got to protect our healthcare workers because they’re
 the ones who are going to take care of us if we get sick.”?

Here’s How To Actually Protect Yourself From COVID-19

You’ve heard it over and over, already, but the best way to protect yourself
from the coronavirus really, truly, honestly is to regularly wash your hands w
ith soap and water.嗱aren Fleming, PhD, a professor in biophysics at Johns Hop
kins University,汢xplained on Twitter烀hy: “Coronavirus is an ‘enveloped’ v
irus, which means that it has an outer lipid membrane layer,” an outer layer
of fat. “Washing your hands with soap and water has the ability to ‘dissolve
’ this greasy fatty layer and kill the virus,”澵he said.

Wash your hands before and after eating and try to train yourself not to touch
 your face, “especially your mouth and nose,” Dr. Perencevich said. Also car
ry around hand sanitizer in case you can’t get to soap and water after touchi
ng your face or another germ-laden surface (like doorknobs).

“Just because it’s a respiratory virus doesn’t mean it gets into your body
through breathing,” he said. “It can enter when your contaminated hands touc
h your mouth or face. So wash your hands, and don’t touch your mouth or face
without washing your hands first.”

You can also protect yourself through social distancing: If you see someone co
ughing or sneezing or otherwise looking sick, stay at least three feet away fr
om them since that’s as far as most droplets will travel.?

What If I’m Immune-Compromised Or Traveling To Infected Areas?

If you are immune-compromised or otherwise at high risk for complications from
 coronavirus—which means you’re already at high risk for flu complications—
you need to talk to your doctor about whether it’s necessary to wear a medica
l respirator in public, Dr. Perencevich said. Similarly, if you’re traveling
to an area with known widespread transmission, consult a travel clinic. Even i
n these cases, however, social distancing and washing your hands frequently ar
e your most important and effective protection tools. ?

Here’s What You SHOULD Do To Prepare For COVID-19?

So you shouldn’t be buying masks, but there are things you can do to prepare
for an outbreak in your city. First, make sure you have at least 3-4 weeks’ w
orth of any medications you need “so you don’t have to run out and get it at
 a certain time,” Dr. Perencevich said.

Similarly, have enough necessities, including food and anything you cannot liv
e without, on hand if school is cancelled for several weeks and the kids are a
t home. You don’t have to stockpile food, but being prepared for any kind of
emergency—not just a disease outbreak but also unexpected severe weather and
similar events—means having enough food and water (one gallon per person per
day) on hand for three days along with supplies to use in the case of power ou
tages.?

A helpful disaster汢mergency kit list is available online沲rom the Department
of Homeland Security, and Kent State汢pidemiologist Tara C. Smith, PhD, offers
淸reat tips on preparing for COVID-19 at Self.?

Where Can I Learn More About Medical Respirators And Masks??

For the technical or science-minded folks out there, it’s certainly possible
to jump down a rabbit hole and learn all about the manufacturing and technical
 specifications of personal protection equipment. Aside from theDC page乸lre
ady mentioned, super geeks will want to read all the links at 3M’s Worker Hea
lth & Safety漤age on the Novel Coronavirus Outbreak. While 3M is not the only
manufacturer, they are a major one with a great deal of helpful, easy-to-read
information on the澑isk of products shipped from China?(there isn’t much of o
ne), healthcare乸lternatives to surgical N95 respirators, an啫AQ for those in
healthcare乸nd濳he general public, and how to澵pot counterfeit products?(thoug
h this will vary by manufacturer).

https://tinyurl.com/spbpe5z

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