With Covid-19 having changed the course of the world as we know it, it may sound silly and downright absurd that there are still discussions being had about whether people should wear masks or not in order to lessen the spread of Covid-19. A bunch of researchers from the University of New South Wales decided to finally put the theory to a test by using an LED lighting system and a high-speed camera to see just how effective a few different face masks actually are, and the results were staggering.
The scientists that did the study said, “If you’re not sure whether wearing a face mask is worth it, or you need to wear a mask but are unsure which type, our new research should help you decide.”
The research entailed taking videos of individuals that were talking, coughing and sneezing while using different face coverings. The video shows four different scenarios – one person with no mask, two people wearing two different types of cloth masks, and the last person wearing a surgical mask.
The first portion of the video shows what happens when the four individuals were asked to talk, being told to count from one to ten. The second portion films the four people coughing, while the last part shows them sneezing. As seen in the video, the person using the surgical mask showed the least amount of droplets and aerosols being released from his mouth into the air as compared to the other three individuals in the video. According to the researchers, while the surgical mask is the most effective, “a cloth mask is the next best thing.” The video proved that the masks that had more layers were better than those with less.
The scientists used a high-speed camera and LED lighting system to film the study, which was the best tool to help the researchers visualize exactly how the droplets spread, which are otherwise normally invisible. The study also proved that it isn’t just coughing and sneezing that generates a tremendous amount of droplets, but that simply talking does to. It’s just that coughing and sneezing produces even more.
Another factor that the researchers were able to see was that although cloth masks with single layers still manage to lessen the spread of droplets, they are not as effective as cloth masks with two layers. But surgical masks have the best effectivity of all three of the masks tested in the video. The researchers went on to share that 12-layered cloth masks are ‘about as protective as a surgical mask’ but they “acknowledge it’s difficult to sew together 12 layers of fabric.”
For those that prefer to use cloth masks, the researchers recommend the following tips to make their cloth masks more beneficial to their users. They suggest to take three layers and sew them together, using water-resistant fabric for the outside layer. Choose fabrics that have a tighter weave, and be sure to use hybrid materials like cotton-silk, cotton-chiffon, or cotton-flannel, which all provide better filtration all around.
See the actual video results of the study below:
Meanwhile, there were also a few reactions from netizens after seeing the video. For most of them, the sarcasm is palpable. Here they are below:
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True Activist / Report a typo
