Uncle Doug, Do I need a Corona Virus Mask?
Look, If it makes you feel better, sure but is is going to help, not that much. What most people are talking about when they say a corona virus mask is an N95 paper face mask. It is not really paper but you get my drift. It will filter 95% of particles, but the corona virus is tiny and what about the 5%.
It will also keep you from touching your nose and mouth with your hands, so I guess it will help with that as well. But will it keep you safe not really.
These masks are real useful for keeping people from spreading the virus. Someone has a mask on and coughs or sneezes, the mask catches all that stuff. They will not be typhoid mary.
Well what about a P100 mask? Works better, will filter 99.97% of stuff but still not perfect. Unless it is a full face mask the virus can still get in your via your eyes, and open sore, you name it, the virus can try and get in (ok viruses are not intelligent, but it sure seems like it sometimes).
The only way to be really protected is by wearing what is called a moon suit. You will look funny but will be safe until you take it off. The outside could still have the virus on it so you will have to decontaminate. How do I do that? Get 1 or 2 or 3 of your friends to wash you off, make that scrub you off with bleach or some other disinfectant in your suit before you take it off and then carefully get out while still behaving that the outside is covered with bugs. You may want to do this once or twice before your actually start taking it off.
How do I know this. Well back in the day I got to try this out. I was the kid in the suit and before they decontaminated me a nice person misted some florescent stuff on me. They guys (I can't remember if it was 2 or 3) doing the decon then scrubbed me down and rinsed me off and then they took a black light to see if they did a good job. I got washed down 3 times before no more florescent stuff on the outside. These guys were not experts yet, but they had been trained so it is not easy.
Well what can I do. Wash your hands. Stay away from folks that appear sick. Wash your hands again. Don't touch your face unless you have just washed your hands. This is probably just as effective as wearing an N95 mask.
