Through the conversation, President Sands leveraged Linsey Marr’s knowledge and descriptions to essentially walk through a how-to guide for students and the public to navigate this pandemic.
How to wear a mask:
Cover your nose and mouth, with no gaps around the edges.
How do masks work?
Marr described a horse and forest.
“What I like to think about is horse running full speed across a field, and at the edge of the field there’s a forest,” Marr said. “The trees are spaced closely, but they’re far enough apart that if the horse were moving slowly, the horse could get navigate through that forest. But the horse is going full speed, and it hits that the edge of the forest and it’s going to crash into the trees.
So that’s one way that the fibers in your mask trap particles that are coming at them. They [the particles] can’t make the turns that the airflow has to make around those fibers.”
Research shows that layering fabric improves a mask’s effectiveness. A single layer of fabric helps some, but two layers should block 95 percent of particles, Marr said.
How to gauge risk:
Remember the three Cs and the M.
- Avoid Close contact situations. Maintain distance from other people. Six feet doesn’t mark a magic barrier, but the particles do dilute with distance.
- Avoid Crowds. Being in large crowds increase the chances that one will be around someone infected with the virus, and that the virus will spread to others.
- Avoid Closed, poorly ventilated spaces. Imagine a cigarette smoker. In this room, will I take in any smoke?
- Wear Masks.
How to ride in a car:
Roll the windows down, even a few inches, and the air refreshes in a minute or two.
How to ride in an airplane:
The ventilation systems really help and are a point of pride for airlines. However, keep your mask on to reduce the risk of transmission from people in the row with you, in front of, and behind you.
How to socialize when it gets colder:
Marr suggested using blankets to tolerate cold temperatures outside, or indoors when all the windows are open. Another possibility for socializing outside would be to gather around a fire, if everyone is masked and keeping distance.
How to endure flu season:
Marr is optimistic.
“All the interventions that we’re taking for COVID-19 will also be effective for the flu, and so I expect we’ll see one of our mildest flu seasons ever,” Marr said. “The flu transmits largely in the in the same ways that COVID-19 transmits. There’s really a lot similarities, and I think we’ll see a lot fewer flus and other respiratory diseases this coming winter. But we need to remain vigilant.”
How to drink a beverage while wearing a mask:
Marr said she’d considered this at some length. Removing one’s mask to drink doesn’t really work. So she landed on the idea of combining a mask with a bendy straw — though Marr acknowledged with a laugh she hasn’t really tested this idea, either.