Orville Taylor | Mask up!

It is an uncomfortable piece of apparel that restricts breathing and reminds me that my teeth are due for their second brushing for the day. Then I have to endure the ignominy of my ill-advised friends saying that I look like a female Muslim in my ‘hijab’ (this is a garment that covers the head and the chest and not the face). Ignorance is something to cure - not to flaunt. So the quick retort is that they wear a ‘niqab’ (the face veil that has the eyes uncovered), and certainly, I am neither female nor have I converted to Islam. Then another smart alec calls me ‘Batman’, and although I have worked many a dark night and am a highly pigmented knight, the homophonic Jamaican word never made me like being called that superhero with no superpowers. My masked hero has been The Black Panther since grade six.

Yet, I, along with the rest of my other Jamaicans who comply with the Government’s directive, wear the cotton-fabric mask because they are critical in flattening the curve of the spread of the coronavirus that, causes COVID-19. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is here and at this point, will remain with us. Our current numbers are trending towards 300 confirmed cases, some of which are now acknowledged as being transmitted from persons who did not come into contact with any known ‘foreigner’. Of this number, seven people have died, including a four-year-old child …. After writing those last few words, continuing this column is becoming almost emotionally impossible.

I plod on. A number of critics and advocates have been asking for increased testing in the general population, because Jamaica, with almost three million residents, has administered fewer tests than some of our regional neighbours on a proportional and absolute basis. However, let us ask the rational question: Given that the tests are in short supply globally and are expensive, what do we hope to achieve if we randomly test the population?

Across the 213 nations with confirmed cases, the mortality rate averages six per cent. At the upper range of the scale, France, Italy, and the UK have rates in the teens while our CARICOM sister, St Lucia, the Helen of the West, has no reported deaths. The fact is, though, what has triggered testing globally has been potential exposure and manifestation of symptoms. Many of the infected persons show only moderate signs and some, none at all. Therefore, what now seems to be an irrefutable conclusion is that i) there are far more persons carrying the virus locally and internationally than we can measure or estimate; and ii) given that the number is so large, the actual mortality rate is significantly lower than we think.

Assume

Nonetheless, given the mortality/confirmation ratio, we have likely gone past the 1,000 mark and growing. Thus, spending more money on administering more tests and building up more quarantine facilities is a far more daunting task than one thinks. Until we have 100 per cent knowledge of who i infected, we simply have to assume that everyone who doesn’t sleep in the same house or bed with you is SARS-CoV-2 -positive and that every surface, which is touched by others with any regularity, is laced with the virus.

Much of what we need to do is simply what our parents taught us. We just have to wash our hands a bit more, clean the surfaces in our homes and places of work, practise more personal spacing, and yes, wear the mask in public.

In many ways, the prophylactic methods are similar to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. It took a while, but after peaking in 2006 with 2,121 new cases, annual reported infections have generally declined to just over half the figure to 1,197 in 2017.

Doubtless, the best way to avoid getting the virus is social ‘abstinence’, which means not coming in physical contact with anyone else and not touching anything that anyone else has touched. Of course, that is virtually impossible. So the next best thing is using some kind of ‘barrier’ method.

Sounding more like an American interstate highway, the N-95 mask for medical personnel is ideal. But those are in short supply and must be reserved for them. Another type, used by cashiers and other front-line workers is an apparatus with a clear plastic eye shield and a lower part that covers both the nostrils and mouth.

Also in demand are those used by auto body workers, pest control workers, and janitorial staff. With the run on all these commercial varieties, the best alternatives is like the one I now wear, the Sho Kosugi ninja mask called a ‘fukumen.’

Protection

Like condoms, different types of masks give varying levels of protection, and it helps to protect the non-user in cases where the wearer might be infected. If two persons are in proximity, even within the two-metre space, the additional cloth barrier logically traps at least some of the particles that carry the virus. One should note, however, that even latex condoms do not give 100 per cent protection, seat belts only reduce the risk of death and injury, and helmets and leather suits decrease the percentage of fatalities; but people still die. Therefore, even surgeons are very careful when using the top-of-the-line apparatus.

Still, the choice of cloth masks has a number of considerations. First of all, one wants to use a fabric blend that will not stifle. Asthmatics, claustrophobes, and others prone to panic attacks must be careful. Some textiles are not breathable. There is much potential in using a blend of hemp and cotton as well as a cloth produced from the bamboo plant. Though awkward to pronounce, it comes in a range of textures, including a beautiful soft black.

Moreover, since the masks restrict breathing and thus talking, one positive side effect is the masks reducing the level of idle chatting in public. Dead people don’t need masks, and I endorse wearing them in public until it is safe not to. For the foreseeable future, I am wearing a black cotton mask until the black bamboo fabric comes.

- Dr Orville Taylor is head of the Department of Sociology at the UWI, a radio talk-show host, and author of ‘Broken Promises, Hearts and Pockets’. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and tayloronblackline@hotmail.com