Health experts suggest wearing a face mask whenever a person is in public and also requires people to maintain six feet distance. But these guidelines are sometimes confusing leading people to mix up both things. So is it mandatory to wear a mask if you are six feet away from a person or still have to wear the mask irrespective of the distance? Here is everything to know.
Wearing a face mask saves a person from getting coronavirus directly from a source and the six feet distance is necessary to cut the direct contact. Whether or not these two should be done twice depends upon the whole situation.
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Saskia Popescu from George Mason University is an expert on infectious disease. According to Popescu, there is nothing supernatural or mystical about this six feet distance, whether or not you are wearing a mask. It’s not like there is something practically protecting a person which only helps if he is six feet away; it is just a precautionary measure to stay out of the reach of coronavirus particles in case someone sneezes or coughs.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shares that the coronavirus particle can not spread beyond six feet distance. It doesn’t mean that the virus cant goes beyond this limit, of course, it can but it is highly unlikely.
Some health experts believe that coronavirus spread is not as simple as CDC implies it is. They suggest wearing a mask whether or not the six feet distance is maintained because there is literally no way to be sure if the virus would or would not spread beyond this distance. If a person is outdoors where he can maintain a distance more than this recommendation, it is better to be as far apart as possible.
There are many other factors that can help whether a person should wear a face mask while maintaining the six feet distance. For example which type of gathering or crowd is it. normally, when people speak louder, sing or yell, the chances of releasing the respiratory droplets are highest. The force for making these sounds is also higher than normal conversational talk which is why, it is possible for the viral particles to travel far away, even more than six feet. In this type of crowd, it is better to wear a face mask and maintain a distance both or, if possible, avoid this type of gathering in the first place.
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The reason why the coronavirus precautions are so confusing is that people normally look for definite answers. The problem with this virus is that despite spending months in a pandemic, there is still no definite information available on its pathogenesis, spread, or control.
Lisa M. Lee from Virginia Tech is a public health expert who says that all of these guidelines are based on standard precautionary measures. There is absolutely no guarantee if a person will not contract the virus if he is following good hand hygiene, face mask, and social distancing because the possibilities are endless. All that could be done right now is to follow all protective methods.
