Widespread use of masks remains the primary tool for combating COVID-19 and economic shutdowns, cost benefit analysis suggests government subsidies for masks bear great returns.
Widespread use of masks remains the primary tool for combating COVID-19 and economic shutdowns, cost benefit analysis suggests government subsidies for masks bear great returns.
Recent FDA chief Dr. Scott Gottlieb argued that he’d “rather try to get everyone in masks” and “try to get them in high-quality masks because we know it’s going to slow down the transmission.”
Against this backdrop, a new study published in Risk Analysis, “Reinventing cloth masks in the face of pandemics,” by Stephen Salter, P.Eng., describes how Effective Fiber Mask Programs (EFMPs) can help communities find a balance between the economy and curbing community spread.
A separate study by Stadnytskyi, et al. estimates that one minute of loud speaking generates at least 1,000 virion-containing droplets that remain airborne for more than eight minutes. If everyone uses effective masks, the benefit is compounded because each person’s mask reduces the number of particles they transmit, and also the number of particles they inhale.
Read more at Society for Risk Analysis
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