Face Fact: Why Masks Work

We asked experts to explain why face coverings can protect you from Covid-19

- Lesego Seokwang

From day one we were urged to wear one. It was imperative to stop the spread of coronavirus, the president said. And yet still many people flouted the regulation, appearing in public barefaced even as the virus crept to all four corners of the country. But now Cyril Ramaphosa has laid down the law in no uncertain terms: going out in public without a mask is illegal.

The numbers are just too terrifying: if the current trajectory continues, South Africa could have between 40 000 and 50 000 deaths before the end of the year.

“We must make it our single most important task to prove scientists and other scenario planners wrong,” Ramaphosa said in his recent address to the nation.

“The storm is upon us.” A quarter of the total number of deaths in SA were recorded in the week before his address, proving the lul brought by the initial hard lockdown was over. “Some people complain that they don’t have cloth masks,” the president added.

“But seriously, a cloth mask isn’t something that’s difficult to get. Even you T-shirt, even your scarf, even a piece o clothing can be put over your nose and mouth.”

So just how does covering your face help stop the spread and contraction of the greatest threat to humankind in decades?

THE SCIENCE BEHIND MASKS

The virus is mainly transmitted between people through respiratory droplets and personal contact, Pretoria pulmonologist Dr Emmanuel Taban says.

Droplets, he explains are small particles of secretions such as saliva that tend to remain suspended in the air for limited periods and can be transmitted for several metres.