UC doctor: Most masks benefit both wearer and other people

Most masks protect the wearer from others and others from the wearer, but the degree to which they protect the person wearing them depends on the mask, according to Dr. Dustin Calhoun.

NEW THIS MORNING...A U-CHEALTH E-R DOCTOR ON THE FRONTLINES OF THE PANDEMIC HERE...SAYS WE'RE STILL SEEINGCOVID-19 CASES INCREASE HEREIN THE CINCINNATI AREA...BUTAT A SLOWER RATHE BELIEVES WEARING MASKS HASHELPED AND WILL HELP...BUTWITH SO MUCH DEBATE OVERTHEM...I ASKED DOCTOR DUSTINCALHOUN TO CLARIFY A BIT ABOUTWHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THEM.So when I hear Dr. Fauci say,we know that it has somebenefit.

That's based on what .0:09-1:10 there are studieslooking at simply the materialthat materials that air passesthrough with particles ithem.

Certain materials dofilter that out.

There aredefinitely been a few studiesthat have demonstratedcorrelation betweenmunicipalities and acting,mandatory masking, and thencontrol or at leastimprovement in theirpopulation.

And then also,what we've seen with diseasespread control in otherdiseases.

The word mask atthis point has become somewhatbroad.

It depends on whatyou're talking about.

So manyof them now are these homemademasks.

And those are so variedthat it's very hard to give asingle answer as to what theydo or don't do.

A mask thatfollows the guidelines thatthe CDC has, which is it theyhave some guidelines as towhat kinds of materials touse, how many layers to use,has somefiltering capacity,there probably is some benefitto most face coverings, wedon't have great sciencebehind it.

Because there's somuch variability.A lot of usas parents are trying to fitour children with a mask thatenables them to breath so theycan function when they go backto school because there'll bewearing them all day,1:20-1:50I have found this justanecdotal that masks a littlebit more structure that don'tstick to your mouth are muchmore comfortable and tend tolast quite a bit longer.

Andthe other thing I encouragepeople to look for both forcomfort, as well as probably alittle bit of enhanced benefitis something that forms aroundthe nose.

Then you see thoseones that have little metal ormalleable clip at the top.That probably, again, justwe're guessing here just bythe physics of airflow shouldhave some benefit and itdefinitely helps for peoplelike myself with glasses,butthe degree to which they helpisstill anybody's guess atthis point,1:57-2:07 right.It's definitely a benefit.

Ihave very little doubt thatthere is some benefit there.But trying to put a number onit is probably impossible justbecause of all the variables