MASK-UP! Help Humanity Kill Coronavirus

"I have issued another amendment to the Quarantine Regulations requiring everyone in Kaduna State to wear a face mask when going out of their homes or workplaces for any reason". This proclamation came from Mallam El Rufai, Governor of the northern state of  Kaduna, Nigeria after his recovery from Covid-19. The Nigerian states of Lagos, Ogun and the FCT had also issued out similar orders.

THE PESTILENCE THAT IS DECIMATING HUMANITY

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the name of the virus responsible for causing the disease named Covid-19 or simply Coronavirus.  (Covid-19) pandemic was reported to have broken out in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. It has led to unprecedented disruptions to global supply chains, economies and sources of human livelihoods. It has led to a sharp drop in global crude oil prices and other commodities, turmoil in global stock and financial markets, and has led to massive

cancellations of sporting, scheduled conferences and conventions, as well as tourism activities worldwide. It has caused severe lock-downs of movements of citizens and goods within states, among countries and continents worldwide. It has also helped to skyrocket the welfare spending of governments of several countries, and induced several social charity activities from the affluent to the very most vulnerable people on the lower rung of the food chain.

COVID-19 CONTAINMENT STRATEGIES

Governments worldwide continue to engage in a flurry of activities aimed at containing, or decimating the virus. These activities included setting up emergency coronavirus isolation centers, procurement and usage of testing kits, massive communication and enlightenment campaigns, intensive and extensive research into likely curative vaccines, and procurement of protective gears for health workers on the front-lines of the coronavirus battles.

Despite all these measures, Covid-19 is showing very little signs of slowing down, and has spread to all known corners of the world with intensifying fatalities. Since December 2019 and 23rd April, 2020, 2,588,068 cases have been reported worldwide, and 182,088 had died from the scourge. Cases have been reported from Africa (25,686 cases, 1,232 deaths), Asia (417,615 cases, 15,781 deaths), America (1,005.660 cases, 54,950 deaths), Europe (1,130,393 cases, 110,741 deaths), Oceania (8,018 cases, 97 deaths) and Japan (696 cases, 7 deaths).

WHAT DO WE KNOW?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a 3-prong strategy to defeat Covid-19 will include (1) Washing our hands with soap frequently (2) Social Distancing by avoiding any gathering of people (like in schools, churches, mosques, commuter buses, clubs, parties etc) (3) Avoid touching our faces or by wearing protective face masks like N95 which is used by health workers on the front lines.

HOW DOES THE VIRUS SPREAD?

According to the European Center For Disease Control, the virus causing Covid-19 is transmitted mainly through respiratory droplets occurring through sneezing, coughing, talking, shouting or when people interact with each other  in close proximity (i.e. less than 1 metre).

The droplets is then inhaled, or land on surfaces that others may come in contact with, including telephones, doorknobs and just about anything. Others can then get infected when they touch these droplets and apply the virus to themselves by touching their eyes, noses or mouths. Since December 2019 when Covid-19 started in Wuhan, China, the number of infections and deaths continue to grow exponentially worldwide.

HOW DO WE FLATTEN THE CURVE?

In addition to the hand-washing and social distancing, the safest and most practical thing to do is to wear protective face masks. It is reported that the N95 masks can provide up to 99% protection against the virus, but it is in scarce quantity partly because it is needed by health workers on the front lines, and partly because the cost of acquiring sufficient quantities of N95 masks is beyond the reach of most families.

Governments and benevolent organizations worldwide are doing their best to provide custom-made face masks, but we are all encouraged to get good materials and sew our own face masks as protection for ourselves and  families.

THE ARGUMENTS AGAINST WEARING FACE MASKS

Few weeks ago, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment put up an opinion poll on Facebook and ask to know why people don't want to wear face masks in public - https://www.facebook.com/149882261722143/posts/3042130625830611. Of the more than 2,000 respondents, 74% cited discomfort, while 26% cited inconvenience. Their reason ranges from genuine reasons of discomfort of people who have pre-existing conditions (such as asthma) to dumb reasons as not wanting to wear one because it is a government order, and to the rather absurd one such as not wanting to wear face masks because America is land of the free. Such assertions are probably predicated on the opinion of Dr. Perencevich on February 29,2020, that  "The average healthy person does not need to wear a mask, and shouldn't be wearing masks. There is no evidence that wearing masks on healthy people will protect them from Covid-19." On the strength of this advice, CDC in America informed people that wearing homemade face masks were useless and offer 0% protection against Covid-19. And certainly, a lot of people on the Colorado DPHE relied on that faulty opinion to make a decision to wear or not to wear masks, and sadly today, America has the highest Covid-19 infection and death rate on the planet. But thankfully, sanity is prevailing, and a change in this position is leading America to truly flattening the curve of Covid-19 infection. Watch Governor Jared Polis of Colorada urging all Coloradans to wear protective homemade face masks whenever they are out of their homes https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/polis-urges-coloradans-to-wear-a-cloth-mask-at-all-times-in-public. This is before President Trump announced the advice of the American CDC to all Americans to wear face masks as protection against Covid-19 whenever they had to leave their homes.

YOU ARE EITHER HELPING OUT, OR NOT HELPING AT ALL

There is consensus that Covid-19 spread is mainly through respiratory droplets. Each mask wearer will keep their droplets to themselves, thus helping to limit the spread. Simple! Wearing protective face masks is much less inconvenient and painless than wearing a ventilator; and people who view obeying government orders on face mask as infringement on their rights will also infringe on others' rights if they infect them with coronavirus or any other disease. As Jared Polis says: "This is a contest to find out how soon we can squash this virus in Colorado. And your are either helping to do that or your are not helping to do that". 

It is not a contest to see how far we can assert our individuality, it is a contest to see how soon the world can be rid of this pestilence. So Mask Up, and help to rid the world of the deadly pestilence that Sars-Cov-2 or Cod-19 had become. Mask up: save yourself, save your family and save the world.

Comments are welcome.