WHO warns of long road ahead, may never be a ‘silver bullet’

‘The World Health Organisation warned on Monday that there might never be a “silver bullet” for Covid-19 in the form of a perfect vaccine, and that the road to normality will be long, with some countries requiring a reset of strategy. WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and WHO emergencies head Mike Ryan exhorted nations to rigorously enforce health measures such as mask-wearing, social distancing, handwashing, contact tracing and testing. “For now, stopping outbreaks comes down to the basics of public health and disease control. The message to people and governments is clear: ‘Do it all’,” Tedros told a virtual news briefing from the UN body’s headquarters in Geneva.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, August 3, 2020)

Unmasking the masks facts and fallacies: Lecture on masks by Dato' Dr Amar Singh

This is highly relevant current information on Covid-19 transmission and the use of face masks including reusable cloth masks and emerging ones.

Watch here (Youtube, August 1, 2020)

One more reason to wear a mask: You’ll get less sick from Covid-19

‘It’s likely that face masks, by blocking even some of the virus-carrying droplets you inhale, can reduce your risk of falling seriously ill from COVID-19, according to Monica Gandhi, MD, an infectious disease specialist at UC San Francisco.

‘These epidemiological observations are among the evidence that Gandhi and colleagues cite in a paper in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, in which they propose that masks can lead to milder or asymptomatic infections by cutting down on the dose of virus people take in...

‘To Gandhi, these case studies [comparing situations at cruise ships, seafood processing centres, etc] suggest that if more people wore masks, we could see less serious illness from COVID-19 and a higher proportion of asymptomatic cases, currently estimated to be around 40 percent of cases by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Milder infections would ease the burden on the health care system, save lives, and even nudge us closer to herd immunity before a vaccine becomes available, said Gandhi.’

Read here (The University of California, San Francisco, July 31, 2020)

Covid-19: Getting our SOPs right - Amar Singh HSS and Lim Swee Im

This article discusses a number of issues on SOPs pertaining to Malaysia today:

• How can we best monitor our pandemic when our numbers are low?
• How ready are our testing capabilities for a second and subsequent waves?
• How good are our safe physical distancing measures?
• Optimising masks in Covid-19 prevention
• There is no way for the poor (B40) to comply with this ruling without a government mandated free programme
• Mask etiquette and our leaders

Read here (The Malay Mail, July 27, 2020)

What we know – and what we don’t know – about stopping the spread of the coronavirus

What's successful: (1) Fast action (2) Well-timed lockdowns (3) Travel restrictions (4) Face masks and coverings. What we still don’t know about the virus’ spread: (1) Mass gatherings (2) Super-spreaders (3) Indoor locations (4) Schools 

Read here (South China Morning Post, July 25, 2020)

Donald Trump willing to work with China on coronavirus vaccine for US

‘Remarks comes day after study shows candidate developed by CanSino and China’s military research unit is safe and induces immune response. US president has resumed daily Covid-19 press briefings as US cases continue to climb... Besides declaring support for masks as a way to fight the pandemic, he admonished young people against crowding bars and spreading the disease. It all marked a delayed recognition by Trump that the economic reopening he has been championing since April – and more importantly, his re-election – were imperilled by spiking cases nationwide.‘

Read here (South China Morning Post, July 22, 2020)

School openings across globe suggest ways to keep coronavirus at bay, despite outbreaks

“Outbreaks in schools are inevitable,” says Otto Helve, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. “But there is good news.” So far, with some changes to schools’ daily routines, he says, the benefits of attending school seem to outweigh the risks—at least where community infection rates are low and officials are standing by to identify and isolate cases and close contacts.

This article discusses the following:

• How likely are children to catch and transmit the virus?
• Should children play together?
• Should kids wear masks?
• What should schools do when someone tests positive?
• Do schools spread the virus to the wider community?
• What lies ahead?

Read here (Science Magazine, July 7, 2020)

Microbiologist shows how well masks work in gross but effective demonstration

Dr Davis's conclusion is a simple one: "Masks as a political / social litmus test or used to shame those who won't (or disabled folks who truly can't!) wear them is a travesty. We wash hands after using the bathroom and wipe noses on tissues. Masks / face shields need to be just another normalized act of hygiene.

Read here (Distractify, July 1, 2020)

The politics of the mask

‘The years since Donald Trump’s election have been marked by a resurgence of violent street-level political confrontations. Fascists and their opponents have squared off in numerous cities, while recent protests against racist police violence have grown into a powerful movement. Cities across the country are now in open rebellion.

‘This new political instability coincides with the tenth anniversary of the publication of critical theorist AK Thompson’s Black Bloc, White Riot: Anti-Globalization and the Genealogy of Dissent (2010), which advanced a provocative thesis regarding the intimate bond between political violence and the white middle class. In Thompson’s account, the black bloc – a demonstration tactic in which masks and sartorial uniformity are used to facilitate participation in confrontational skirmishes – was both seductive and disquieting to white middle-class audiences because it forced them to confront the limits of their own political efficacy. Today, as activists confront the question of violence once again – and COVID-19 universally necessitates the wearing of masks in public – the polarizing debates that inspired the book have reignited, and Thompson’s analysis has implications that reach far beyond the case study that prompted it.

‘In this interview, the writer pushes Thompson to clarify his positions and extend his analysis to consider the forms of street-level political violence we confront today.’

https://socialistproject.ca/2020/06/the-politics-of-the-mask/

Read here (The Bullet, June 22, 2020)

US Department of Homeland Security develops DIY method to decontaminate masks with a multicooker

‘A household appliance, which may be sitting inside your kitchen cabinet, can now be used as a powerful tool in the fight to control COVID-19. Researchers with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) developed a do-it-yourself solution to decontaminate personal protective equipment (PPE) using a programmable multicooker...

‘Moist heat decontamination is achieved by treating masks with 149°F steam for 30 minutes. Key steps include placing the mask(s) in a paper bag, filling the multicooker with a half inch of water and setting the bag on a rack inside of it. S&T verified these conditions inactivate the virus below detectable limits in culture media and simulated saliva, while the masks still meet performance specifications after five treatments...

Read here (US DHS, June 19, 2020)

Full instructions, a video, fact sheet and FAQ about the process are available on the HHS S&T website. View video and download PDFs here

Widespread mask-wearing could prevent COVID-19 second waves: Study

‘Population-wide face mask use could push COVID-19 transmission down to controllable levels for national epidemics, and could prevent further waves of the pandemic disease when combined with lockdowns, according to a British study on Wednesday. The research, led by scientists at the Britain’s Cambridge and Greenwich Universities, suggests lockdowns alone will not stop the resurgence of the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, but that even homemade masks can dramatically reduce transmission rates if enough people wear them in public.’

Read here (Reuters, June 10, 2020)

Wear masks in public says WHO, in update of COVID-19 advice

The WHO's technical lead expert on Covid-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, said in a Reuters interview: "We are advising governments to encourage that the general public wear a mask [in public areas where there is a risk of transmission of COVID-19]. And we specify a fabric mask - that is, a non-medical mask... We have new research findings... We have evidence now that if this is done properly it can provide a barrier ... for potentially infectious droplets."

Read here (Straits Times, June 6, 2020)

Distancing and masks cut Covid-19 risk, says largest review of evidence

‘Keeping at least one metre apart and wearing face masks and eye protection are the best ways to cut the risk of Covid-19 infection, according to the largest review to date of studies on coronavirus disease transmission. In a review that pooled evidence from 172 studies in 16 countries, researchers found frequent handwashing and good hygiene are also critical - though even all those measures combined can not give full protection.’ The findings were published in The Lancet journal on Monday.

Read here (Malaysiakini, June 2, 2020)

Wearing face masks at home cuts Covid-19 spread by 79 percent - study

‘While face masks and frequent disinfection is widely assumed to prevent Covid-19 transmission, a new study has lent weight to the usefulness of these measures in ‘real world’ situations. In a paper published in the journal BMJ Global Health yesterday, researchers found that wearing face masks at home before the primary case showed symptoms slashed the risk of secondary infections by 79 percent. Wearing masks after symptoms appeared had no effect.’

Read here (Malaysiakini, May 29, 2020)

Harnessing our humanity — How Washington’s health care workers have risen to the pandemic challenge

‘Given mounting PPE shortages and the rising death toll from Covid-19 among health care workers globally, such scenarios [of protocol modifications -- including the use of bandannas in place of face masks] induce terror and necessitate rethinking of routine standards of care. Should we run to codes of patients with known or suspected Covid-19? Should physicians refuse to intubate a patient unless they have adequate PPE? Should we offer bedside comfort to the elderly patient with possible Covid-19 who becomes increasingly delirious as unrecognizable health care workers speed in and out of the room while TV coverage of the pandemic drones on in the background? The clarion call of the profession — to put our patients’ needs above our own — is far less directive when meeting one patient’s needs may leave us too ill to care for the next.’

Read here (New England Journal of Medicine, May 28, 2020)

Call for clear face masks to be ‘the norm’

‘Standard face masks, which have become widespread as countries try to stop the spread of coronavirus, muffle words and obscure the mouth... Main dans la Main (Hand in Hand), an association which supports deaf and hearing impaired people in Chevrières, northern France, is among the organisations around the world that have created a mask with a transparent window... But one setting where homemade masks are not suitable - but where both PPE and communication are vital - is in hospitals. There is just one company in the US that has secured Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to make clear masks for clinical use.’

Read here (BBC, May 26, 2020)

Look into my eyes: Communication in the era of face masks

‘Wallraven's research at Korea University in Seoul focuses on facial expressions. "The greatest source of non-verbal information comes from our mouths," he said, explaining that facial expressions, especially in the lower part of the face, reveal nuances in the spoken word. But face masks hide much of these facial expressions. This makes it difficult to put things that are being said into the right context, which may lead to uncertainty, Wallraven said. "Is that person smiling or grinning sarcastically? You just can't tell."

Read here (DW, May 22, 2020)

Singaporeans to be given improved reusable masks in third nationwide mask distribution exercise

‘Singaporeans will receive improved reusable masks soon, with the Government embarking on a third mask distribution exercise towards the end of this circuit breaker period. The new cloth masks will have higher protective qualities and also be more comfortable to wear for a long period of time, said Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing on Wednesday (May 6). Over the last few weeks, the Government has been working with local manufacturers and A*Star to improve on the materials used for the reusable cloth masks.’

Read here (Straits Times, May 6, 2020)

See how a cough travels without a mask and with

A lab at Florida Atlantic University is simulating a human cough to understand how far and fast cough droplets can spread. The droplets travel as far as 12ft in 30 to 40 seconds.

View here (CNN, May 4, 2020)

Major challenges remain in Covid-19 testing

‘The phrase “when we have adequate testing” has become the siren song within many conversations around return, namely in reopening the economy. Unfortunately, many of these conversations do not fully consider some critical issues around availability, test characteristics, and — importantly — test strategy. These issues suggest a need to rapidly consider other methods of protecting the population during reentry that can be implemented to complement testing. Such protective methods could include physical barriers, universal masking (while acknowledging supply-chain issues with personal protective equipment), and physical distancing in public spaces.’

Read here (Mckinsey & Co, May 2020)