I am not a medical professional, but have been confused by conflicting statements about the use of gloves and masks by the general public as an effective means to reduce the spread of the virus. It would be helpful if our leaders would actually discuss the logic behind the advice. I've tried to think about this logically and set down a straw man set of statements below. I'd be interested to learn where my logic may be flawed.
Logic of protective measure for virus
Assumptions:
1. virus cannot penetrate unbroken skin
2. virus is airborne
3. virus can live on surfaces
4. virus is killed by soap and water
Protective measure:
1. Hands
a. Bare – touching any contaminated surface results in contamination of hands
i. Virus spread by touching other surfaces
ii. Virus spread by touching other people’s faces
iii. Owner only gets virus if contaminated hand touches mouth/nose/eyes, or open skin wounds
iv. Preventative – washing hands
b. Gloves – touching any contaminated surface results in contamination of gloved hand
i. Virus spread to any surface touched by gloved hand
ii. Virus spread by touching other people’s faces
iii. Owner gets virus if touches mouth/nose/eyes while wearing contaminated glove
iv. Discarded glove still contaminated, touching it with bear hands transfers virus to hands
v. Preventative – disposable gloves discarded after each use; non-disposable gloves washed after each use; hands washed immediately after taking gloves off
2. Mask
a. Sealed
i. Prevents user from shedding virus into air
ii. Prevents user from inhaling virus in air
iii. Prevents user from touching face with contaminated gloved or bare hands
b. Unsealed (e.g. standard hardware or homemade mask, bandana, etc.)
i. Reduces amount of virus shed by user into the air, likely to a large degree
ii. Reduces likelihood of inhaling virus
iii. Prevents user from touching face with contaminated gloved or bare hands
3. Conclusions
a. Glove use by general public provides minimal protection and can increase spread of virus if not used properly, which is very likely. Professionals use disposable gloves which are discarded immediately after each use, hence do not transfer virus from person to person or room to room. If used properly by general public, gloves can provide minimal protection to the USER when hands can’t be washed immediately, but do not reduce spread of virus on surfaces. For example, a cashier wearing gloves who touches a contaminated object is just as likely to spread the virus to other objects that are touched as a cashier without gloves. Caveat – virus may have shorter survival times on different types of gloves compared to bare hands.
b. Masks can reduce spread of virus by a carrier by limiting or reducing shedding by breathing, coughing or sneezing. However, homemade masks use by the general public likely helps most by preventing the user from touching their face with contaminated bare of gloved hands.
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