- There have been so many questions about
should you wear a mask?
Should you not?
Which kind should you wear?
And when should wear them, if at all?
- The CDC is taking steps
to clear up the nation's mask confusion.
- All of a sudden I'm getting very confused
about whether or not we should be wearing masks.
- These seem like straight forward questions,
but there's a lot of gray area and a ton of confusion.
So today I'm gonna be clearing that up.
On April 3rd officials at the CDC
issued guidance that Americans should wear cloth face masks
when venturing outside the home to run essential errands.
Now that was a big change from recommendations
a week earlier that you only needed to wear masks
if you yourself had respiratory symptoms like coughing
or sneezing, or if you were taking of somebody who was sick.
So, a couple of key things to keep in mind.
The CDC is talking about cloth face masks
in addition to physical distancing.
So keeping at least six feet between you and others.
And they're still saying stay at home as much as possible,
and only head out for essential errands.
The other key point the CDC is talking about here
is using the kind of cloth masks
that you fashion yourself at home.
They're not saying to use or to hoard medical grade masks,
like surgical masks or N95 respirators.
Because those need to be preserved
for healthcare workers and emergency responders.
If you already have some surgical masks
or N95 respirators laying around your home,
that's fine, you can use them.
But if you have stock pile of them,
then it might be worth getting in touch
with a local healthcare facility,
since in some areas these are really in demand.
So that leaves us with the DIY cloth face mask.
Now there are a ton of online tutorials
about how you can make these face masks,
but I recommend going to the CDC's website.
The CDC isn't simply saying you can tie any scarf
or bandana over your nose and mouth.
It's produced tutorials like these ones.
So here's one showing how you can sew a cloth face mask
at home, and here's another one with a no sew technique
showing you how to fold a piece of fabric,
and how to use elastic ties
or hairbands to fashion your own cloth mask.
- [Instructor] And one on the other side.
Then you fold either side to the middle,
and you have yourself cloth face covering.
It's that easy.
- This may seem obvious, but when you're wearing
that cloth face mask, make sure it's not just covering
your mouth, but it's also covering you nose,
and if you wear face masks when you go out,
make sure when you come home
you are taking them off properly.
Remember, do not touch the contaminated area,
that's the part that covered your mouth and your nose here,
and you need to wash them regularly.
The CDC also says that these homemade masks
should not be worn by kids under the age of two,
or anyone who already has breathing difficulties.
There are studies that show that a cloth face mask,
if it's worn correctly, can limit the spread
of infectious droplets.
But there are some important caveats here.
First off, while a cloth face mask might keep your germs
in and stop you spreading bugs to other people,
it won't necessarily protect you from becoming infected.
They're not good at block tiny droplets
in the same that an N95 respirator might.
And also you compare a cloth mask
to one of those N95s, and you can see
that a cloth mask does not form a tight seal
around your face.
There's also this concern that wearing a cloth face mask
might give some people a false sense of security.
So they put one of these homemade things
on and then they're like
"Oh, I'm just gonna go out a lot more."
Or "I'm gonna get closer to people than I really should."
So that's one of the behaviors that we worry about.
So here are my main takeaways.
[gentle music]
While there's evidence that cloth face masks
are not as effective as medical grade masks,
the CDC is saying it's better to wear them instead
of wearing nothing at all on your face when you go out.
But if you choose to wear a cloth face mask,
and it is a choice because this is voluntary guidance,
it has to be in addition to physical distancing,
so staying at least six feet away
from other people, maintaining good hand hygiene,
and only venturing out when you absolutely need
to leave the house.
And when you're wearing a mask,
please don't get comfortable and assume that
a cloth face mask is protecting you from getting infected.
It likely isn't.
It's all about keeping your germs
in and protecting others from you.
I hope that answers your questions about masks.
Thanks for watching and send me your questions
on my social media.