HEALTH experts have determined that face coverings are a vital tool in reducing the spread of coronavirus but little research has been done into how different kinds of masks compare.
A new study has ranked 14 types of commonly available mask, finding that medical masks offer significantly more protection against droplet spread than cotton alternatives while bandanas and balaclavas don't do much at all.
The findings have public policy implications, particularly in the United States where authorities have encouraged the public to use textile masks and leave the medical products to health care workers because they are in short supply.
"We need to scale up surgical mask production and distribution," tweeted Tom Frieden, the former director of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention under President Barack Obama, in response to the study that appeared in Science Advances.
Masks are important because some 30-40 percent of people who are infected may not show symptoms but still unwittingly spread the virus when they cough, sneeze or just talk.
A team of scientists at Duke University created an inexpensive setup: people stood in a dark room and spoke the words "Stay healthy, people" five times into the direction of an expanded laser beam, which was recorded with a cell phone camera.
A computer algorithm was then used to calculate the number of droplets. The laser and lens involved can be bought for $200 and the experimental design is easy to replicate by non-experts.
"This sort of test could easily be conducted by businesses and others that are providing masks to their employees or patrons," said co-author Martin Fischer, a chemist and physicist.
Professionally-fitted N95 masks -- hospital-grade protection worn by frontline workers in hospitals -- reduced droplet transmission to less than 0.1 percent.
Surgical or polypropylene masks were not far behind, bringing droplet transmission down by 90 percent or more compared to no face-coverings.
Hand-made cotton face coverings provided good coverage, eliminating 70 to 90 percent of the spray from normal speech, depending on the number of layers and the pleating.
But bandanas only reduced the droplets by about 50 percent and neck fleeces actually increased the amount of spray, probably by dispersing the largest droplets into many smaller droplets.
Finally, N-95 masks with valves designed for industrial settings where the user's exhalation was less important than what they inhaled performed roughly on par with cotton masks in terms of the amount of spray transmitted.
Health authorities have discouraged the use of valved N-95s.
Co-author Eric Westman said he had already put the information to use, avoiding the bulk purchase of a type of mask he and a local non-profit had planned to distribute for free to the public of Durham, North Carolina where the university is based.
"The notion that 'anything is better than nothing' didn't hold true," he said.
AFP RELAXNEWS
Fri Aug 21 2020
![Medical masks best, cotton good, bandanas worse: droplet study Medical masks best, cotton good, bandanas worse: droplet study](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2020-08/81597980633_MASK.jpg)
Masks are important because some 30-40 percent of people who are infected may not show symptoms but still unwittingly spread the virus when they cough, sneeze or talk. AFPRelaxpic
![Kim Pan-gon akan ke Ulsan Hyundai? Kim Pan-gon akan ke Ulsan Hyundai?](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/51721117483_KimPangon.jpg)
Kim Pan-gon akan ke Ulsan Hyundai?
Bekas pengendali skuad negara itu dilaporkan sedang menjadi calon utama untuk mengisi jawatan pengurus kelab gergasi Korea Selatan, Ulsan Hyundai.
![Lebih 2,300 hektar kawasan lapang di ibu negara diperuntukkan kawasan hijau Lebih 2,300 hektar kawasan lapang di ibu negara diperuntukkan kawasan hijau](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2016-12/41482504881_TamanTasikTitiwang.jpg)
Lebih 2,300 hektar kawasan lapang di ibu negara diperuntukkan kawasan hijau
Daripada keluasan itu, sebanyak 977.55 hektar tanah telah diwartakan, manakala 1,416.24 hektar tanah lapang yang berpotensi akan dan sedang dalam proses diwartakan.
Guna jawatan untuk projek pembekalan, suami isteri ditahan
Sepasang suami isteri direman enam hari dalam siasatan penyalahgunaan jawatan untuk mendapatkan projek pembekalan bernilai lebih RM200,000.
Perintah reman dikeluarkan Majistret Noor Mazrinie Mahmood bermula hari ini hingga Ahad.
Perintah reman dikeluarkan Majistret Noor Mazrinie Mahmood bermula hari ini hingga Ahad.
DBKL ubah lalu lintas Jalan Sultan Ismail bermula 22 Julai
Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) akan melaksanakan perubahan lalu lintas di Jalan Sultan Ismail berkuat kuasa 22 Julai ini.
![ADUN Rembia sertai Pas, kenapa tak umum tahun lepas? - MP Kampar ADUN Rembia sertai Pas, kenapa tak umum tahun lepas? - MP Kampar](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/61721116604_ChongZheminDewan.jpg)
ADUN Rembia sertai Pas, kenapa tak umum tahun lepas? - MP Kampar
Tindakan tersebut seolah-olah satu penghinaan paling besar kepada Parlimen yang telah meluluskan pindaan Perlembagaan Persekutuan berkait Akta Antilompat Parti.
[TERKINI] Perbelanjaan pengguna Malaysia dijangka kembali teguh
Perbelanjaan pengguna Malaysia dijangka teguh sepanjang tahun ini, demikian menurut BMI, iaitu syarikat Fitch Solitions.
![Kes bunuh Nur Farah Kartini: Suspek berkhidmat 5 tahun dalam PDRM Kes bunuh Nur Farah Kartini: Suspek berkhidmat 5 tahun dalam PDRM](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/81721102947_suspekbunuhNurFar.jpg)
Kes bunuh Nur Farah Kartini: Suspek berkhidmat 5 tahun dalam PDRM
Anggota berusia 26 tahun terbabit bertugas di Balai Polis Slim River di bawah Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah (IPD) Muallim dengan pangkat lans koperal.
![Perunding pelaburan didakwa terlibat pengubahan wang haram hampir RM1 juta Perunding pelaburan didakwa terlibat pengubahan wang haram hampir RM1 juta](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/51721117052_SaifulNizamSaharud.jpg)
Perunding pelaburan didakwa terlibat pengubahan wang haram hampir RM1 juta
Seorang perunding pelaburan mengaku tidak bersalah atas empat pertuduhan pengubahan wang haram berjumlah hampir RM1 juta.
Purata suhu meningkat 0.24 darjah celcius per dekad
Berdasarkan rekod dari tahun 1969 hingga 2019, purata suhu bulanan di Semenanjung Malaysia pada bulan Mei 2024 adalah 28.8 darjah celcius manakala purata suhu bulanan pada bulan Mei 1974 iaitu 50 tahun yang lalu adalah 26.6 darjah celcius.
ADUN dari kerajaan perpaduan sertai Pas
Menurut Takiyuddin, keahlian Muhamad Jailani yang juga wakil rakyat UMNO diterima pada 10 Jun tahun lalu, namun diumumkan secara rasmi hari ini.