What a doctor said about masks and COVID-19.

I didn't get a straight answer.

First I told her I was confused due to getting conflicting information from different sources. One source showed the size of a pore in masks, let’s say it’s 12x12 inches, and the dry coronavirus which would be the size of your fingernail. So the mask does not stop a dry virus from going through masks, except one does not encounter dry virus in the wild. The virus is carried on larger droplets when one coughs.

Then I asked her about droplet size which carries the virus, which people give off when they cough. I specifically asked her about the size of these droplets. She didn’t answer that. I think she didn’t know the average droplet size.

All patients and medical workers are required to wear masks at a doctor’s office because they don’t know if someone is sick or not, and they work with a lot of sick people. Masks are required even in the summer during off-peak flu season. Peak flu seasons is December through February during the coldest months of the year, when the air is drier, and the mucus membranes of your sinus and mouth are also drier. These mucus membranes are the primary defense against viruses and bacteria in the air you breathe.

So I still don’t have a straight answer from a doctor. If you were wondering, she does not have a private practice she works for a local medical corporation which is quite large in this area.

If you have empirical data that shows average pore size for a surgical mask, or average coughed droplet size that carries a virus, I’d be grateful if you posted it in the comments with the link.