# How contagious is the virus if everyone wears a mask **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [October 27, 2020, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-contagious-is-the-virus-if-everyone-wears-a-mask/924035 "2020-10-27T16:08:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-contagious-is-the-virus-if-everyone-wears-a-mask/924035/1 "2020-10-27T16:08:25Z")
I haven’t been reading or posting much, especially on the virus but is there a consensus on how effective masks are if everyone wears them? I’ve heard the n95 and kn95 masks will prevent you from both inhaling and exhaling the virus. but only if they are fitted properly, and am exhalation valve will make the masks useless for stopping the spread. I’ve heard spandex masks make spreading the virus worse than doing nothing. and I’ve seen endless people wear their masks wrong in public with their Jose’s exposed etc But basically if everyone went back to a normal life and everyone wore surgical masks what would happen to how contagious the virus is? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-contagious-is-the-virus-if-everyone-wears-a-mask/924035/2 "2020-10-27T16:53:05Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I’ve heard spandex masks make spreading the virus worse than doing nothing. There were misinterpreted reports about a proposal for mask testing that incorrectly claimed neck gaiters were worse than no mask. The proposal wasn’t a test, just a planned testing protocol with no attempt to produce actual results. Subsequent tests have shown a range of results for different masks and face coverings, including some excellent results for some gaiters, but nothing definitive yet. So this particular factoid isn’t true. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-contagious-is-the-virus-if-everyone-wears-a-mask/924035/3 "2020-10-27T16:57:44Z")
Didn’t one if Trumps own advisors \*(not that he listened) state that if everyone wore mask it would have a more immediate impact in bringing down the rate of infection than a vaccine? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-contagious-is-the-virus-if-everyone-wears-a-mask/924035/4 "2020-10-27T16:58:17Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I’ve seen endless people wear their masks wrong in public with their Jose’s exposed 😮 That’s wearing your mask really wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-contagious-is-the-virus-if-everyone-wears-a-mask/924035/5 "2020-10-28T06:47:58Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > > > I’ve seen endless people wear their masks wrong in public with their Jose’s exposed > > 😮 That’s wearing your mask really wrong. I’m told those are some real bad hombres. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-contagious-is-the-virus-if-everyone-wears-a-mask/924035/6 "2020-10-28T13:09:14Z")
There might be stats out there about this. It bugs the heck out of me when people adjust and fool with the things. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-contagious-is-the-virus-if-everyone-wears-a-mask/924035/7 "2020-10-28T16:19:15Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > But basically if everyone went back to a normal life and everyone wore surgical masks what would happen to how contagious the virus is? ISTR an incident a few months ago in which two hairdressers in the same salon both had active COVID infections, but continued to work. Styling a customer’s hair is pretty much the definition of “close contact,” i.e. being within six feet for \> 15 minutes. While wearing masks together, these hairdressers served something like 140 customers and none of those customers developed COVID infections. Here, found it: > **[Absence of Apparent Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from Two Stylists...](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6928e2.htm)** > > On May 12, 2020 (day 0), a hair stylist at salon A in Springfield, Missouri (stylist A), developed respiratory symptoms and continued working with clients until day 8, when the stylist received a... Short summary: > Among 139 clients exposed to two symptomatic hair stylists with confirmed COVID-19 while both the stylists and the clients wore face masks, no symptomatic secondary cases were reported; among 67 clients tested for SARS-CoV-2, all test results were negative. Adherence to the community’s and company’s face-covering policy likely mitigated spread of SARS-CoV-2. **TL,DR:** masks are really effective, and if we could adopt more widespread usage, we could tame this pandemic in a hurry. Public health officials these days must have a visceral understanding of how frustrated **[Ignatz Semmelweis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis)** must have felt when he tried to popularize hand washing. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-contagious-is-the-virus-if-everyone-wears-a-mask/924035/8 "2020-10-29T04:42:44Z")
I used to wear a homemade mask. Made out of an old t-shirt. Probably not very effective. Then I switched to a surgical mask. The surgical masks caused more air to vent around the nose, thus fogging my glasses. More than the homemade one, that is, although that one did it some too. All that venting means my exhaled air is not going through the filter, so I’m not sure the surgical masks are better than my homemade one. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-contagious-is-the-virus-if-everyone-wears-a-mask/924035/9 "2020-10-29T04:49:34Z")
Mmm. The t-shrt mask could have been venting just as much of your exhalations, just not around your nose. Or, it could have been passing more exhalations through the fabric filter, but the filter could have been much less effective than the mask. Or a bit of both. So you really can’t draw much in the way of firm conclusions here. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-contagious-is-the-virus-if-everyone-wears-a-mask/924035/10 "2020-10-29T08:41:06Z")
I suspect it’s the second one. The t-shirt is just a single layer of fabric, so it’ll let more air out through it. It’s impossible to say which is better without testing. ---
**Author:** ![Tfletch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tfletch1/32/5340_2.png) [@Tfletch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tfletch1)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-contagious-is-the-virus-if-everyone-wears-a-mask/924035/11 "2020-10-29T12:14:33Z")
A study from Vanderbilt. Significantly less hospitalizations of people from counties with mask mandates (see Figure 1). [https://www.vumc.org/health-policy/sites/default/files/public\_files/Vanderbilt%20COVID19%20Report-Oct%2027.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1j7vSLUYK6aa4LJhhRbhqjSSJWWtKpQYBTCId-UYmSV-dZkUF7PZX66lE](https://www.vumc.org/health-policy/sites/default/files/public_files/Vanderbilt%20COVID19%20Report-Oct%2027.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1j7vSLUYK6aa4LJhhRbhqjSSJWWtKpQYBTCId-UYmSV-dZkUF7PZX66lE) ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-contagious-is-the-virus-if-everyone-wears-a-mask/924035/12 "2020-10-29T15:49:41Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > I suspect it’s the second one. The t-shirt is just a single layer of fabric, so it’ll let more air out through it. It’s impossible to say which is better without testing. A lot will depend on how big the gaps are around the surgical mask. If you can get 100% of the air to pass through the tshirt and the mask, the tshirt will be about 40% effective and the mask will be about 90-95%. If your surgical mask is venting around the sides, you can do things like attach the loops behind your head for a tighter fit, fold the side tucks in, shape the top of the mask better, etc. A tshirt mask will have poor filtration regardless of how well it fits. A gappy surgical mask is a problem that you can fix to ensure you are getting the best filtration possible. There are even braces from companies like [Fix the Mask](https://www.fixthemask.com/) to seal a surgical mask completely to your face. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-contagious-is-the-virus-if-everyone-wears-a-mask/924035/13 "2020-10-29T16:02:15Z")
I can’t find it now, but just last week I saw a study where they tracked people in one region. People wearing masks had a much lower rate of infection than people in the same area who didn’t. Using cell phone data, they determined that both groups were moving around in public to the same extent, so it wasn’t that the masked people were staying indoors more than the non-masked people. It seemed to be clear, definitive data that wearing masks significantly lowered infection rates.