What a time we’re living in. We are all being highly encouraged if not forced to wear masks while in public. My gut reaction is to resist. I feel my rights being impeded upon and conforming to the “new normal” isn’t happening without a fight. These initial strong feelings led me to find answers. Is wearing a mask and act of submission or the right thing to do for the greater good? Do masks really keep us and those around us safe or are they simply a false sense of protection? Am I just a rebel without a cause? Turns out, my gut was on to something…
Let me breakdown why masks, not even N-95s will not protect against COVID-19. This information is no one’s opinion, it is fact. The micron (the unit of measurement of a pathogen) of a COVID-19 particle is .125. The smallest size of micron that can pass through a mask is .3. This means that the COVID-19 micron size is so tiny that it can actually pass through any type of mask. The N-95 mask was named N-95 because it protects against 95% of pathogens. COVID-19, unfortunately is in the 5% that it can not protect you from.
Typical masks are meant to protect other’s from you not the other way around. You probably already know this but the typical mask that people are wearing are what surgeons wear during surgery to protect a patient in case they spit, cough or sneeze. Sick people wear masks to protect others from getting what they have. Masks do not protect the person wearing the mask. They protect the people around them from getting the illness they carry.
As I stated earlier, N-95 masks are meant to protect you from 95% of pathogens unlike a typical cloth mask or paper mask. However, if they are to properly work, they must be custom fitted to a person’s face. After wearing an N-95 mask for 1 hour, they tend to get wet which is when they are no longer working and must be discarded.
With both types of masks, especially the N-95 mask, breathing in your own CO2 can be very unhealthy. For one, CO2 is very acidic and too much of it disturbs the pH of the body which is vital to overall health. Not to mention, you are breathing in your own bacteria. Also, wearing a face mask for even a short amount of time depletes vital oxygen your body needs to survive. Moisture retention and reuse of cloth masks can result in an increased risk of infection. Common sense tells me that masks can actually trap infectious particles near the mouth and nose making the risk much greater than if a person is breathing open air.
Not only do masks compromise one’s health, they are uncomfortable to say the least. Adjusting the mask puts you more at risk then if you were able to breath comfortably and make a conscious effort to keep your hands away from your face. I encountered a bank teller yesterday who was clearly uncomfortable wearing her mask and continuously needed to adjust it for comfort as well as to talk to me because she was so soft spoken I could not hear her. Normally, I would’ve been able to read her lips. I’m sure she is dealing with this all day. My heart went out to her.
I am very torn about wearing a mask. While I want to be empathetic to my fellow shoppers and would never want to appear selfish, I also do not want to conform to the “new normal” the powers that be are trying to enforce. Our media has failed us completely by instilling massive amounts of fear as well as false information making the general public on edge and scared senseless.
I want to add that I do have a person in my life that would be greatly effected if he contracted COVID-19. My dad has had 2 cases of pneumonia in the last 2 months and the last hospital stay nearly killed him due to lack of attention from the hospital staff and the isolation. It would be a death sentence for him if he contracted this virus. I want you to now I do not take this virus lightly and would do nothing to put my father or children at risk.
Wearing a mask because the media tells me to is a hell no from me. Wearing a mask to make other’s that are scared feel more comfortable is a maybe. As you well know, it’s a tricky situation we’re all in and we must all make an informed decision how to proceed and whether or not there is a sinister under current to this entire pandemic. The older I get, the more I question the people I always thought I could trust. Our government and our medical community aren’t all we thought they were and as I learned when I was home birthing, my body and the body of my children are my responsibility and no one else’s.
Stay alert. Question everything!
xx, Jenni A.K.A Rebel WITH a Cause
