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First Place: High School Division

First Place: High School Division
    Below is a piece written by Darren L (age 14), the winner of High School Division for the COVID-19 Writing Contest . Darren's submission is a research entry about masks, where he first details reasons why people refuse to wear masks and then provides evidence proving that masks are effective. (For more information about the efficacy of masks and different types of masks see here) Darren's piece can also be viewed through this link. Enjoy!

Why Masks are Effective in Preventing the Spread of COVID-19

By: Darren Lee


Masks have been used for thousands of years and have been proven to be a great tool to prevent the spread of many diseases. For example, in 2009, there was a reported number of 30,200 cases of swine flu. After people started wearing masks, the number of cases decreased. Even though masks have been proven to be a helpful tool to stop the spread of viruses, people still refuse to wear them. 

Why People Don’t Want to Wear Masks

There are many reasons why people across America don’t want to wear masks. One reason why people don’t want to wear masks is because of the information that was given to them. During the beginning of the pandemic, there were many people saying competing messages that contradicted each other. This has made people confused about whom to believe. According to Dr. DeSilva, she says, “Messages lose credibility when they are presented as fact one day, only to be described differently the next…Adults do not like to be told what to do without understanding the reasons behind it”. Other reasons include: saying masks are uncomfortable, thinking that they cause carbon dioxide poisoning, and believing that they aren’t an effective way of preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Evidence and Case Studies

This is simply not true. There are many pieces of evidence that disprove the statement, "Masks aren’t an effective way in preventing the spread of COVID-19". According to an article written by  Nina Bai from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), it states, “One category of evidence comes from laboratory studies of respiratory droplets and the ability of various masks to block them. An experiment using high-speed video found that hundreds of droplets ranging from 20 to 500 micrometers were generated when saying a simple phrase, but that nearly all these droplets were blocked when the mouth was covered by a damp washcloth”. This proves that masks prevent COVID-19 because COVID-19 travels through respiratory droplets. The study uses washcloths as masks to show that they block the droplets, showing that it prevents the spread of the virus. The article also mentions a report that says, “... two hair stylists in Missouri had close contact with 140 clients while sick with COVID-19. Everyone wore a mask and none of the clients tested positive”. This shows the real-life application of wearing a mask since the people who wore masks tested negative for the virus.

Conclusion

The spread of COVID-19 has greatly increased over the past couple of months. Due to different messages from highly trusted individuals, people have mixed opinions about the virus and wearing masks. Some people believe that wearing a mask does not prevent the spread of COVID-19 and choose not to wear one. This theory has been debunked. Masks help prevent the spread of the virus by blocking the droplets from your mouth that carry COVID-19 from spreading to others. Wearing a mask helps prevent the spread of the coronavirus and helps save lives.


Sources

  1. Bai, Nina. “Still Confused About Masks? Here's the Science Behind How Face Masks Prevent Coronavirus.” Still Confused About Masks? Here's the Science Behind How Face Masks Prevent Coronavirus | UC San Francisco, 19 Nov. 2020, www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-about-masks-heres-science-behind-how-face-masks-prevent.

  2. “COVID-19 Global Impact (Internal).” Google, Google, 2020, datastudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/1RX1twzFniNjjOqd_HzuSqS_05rYD0zYH/page/i58TB.

  3. Gillespie July 01, Claire. “Why Do Some People Refuse to Wear a Face Mask in Public?” Health.com, 1 July 2020, www.health.com/condition/infectious-diseases/coronavirus/face-mask-refuse-to-wear-one-but-why. 

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