It was May.
As Spain progressed through the different phases of de-escalation after confinement, the Government announced that the mask would be mandatory in public spaces.
Although its use was recommended in crowded places since April, the mandatory nature of the mask in the streets did not arrive until May 20, when this measure was published in the
Official State Gazette
.
Its use was still conditioned to the safety distance - it was not necessary to wear it if there were no crowds - but, for the first time since the pandemic began, the Spanish had to leave the house with it.
This November 20, Spain has completed half a year living with the mask.
Six months go a long way.
In them, the mask has gone from being something that we saw in visits to the doctor or dentist to be part of our day to day, even to appear in the mantra that we recite before leaving home so that we do not forget anything: "Keys, wallet, mobile, mask."
These are some that we have learned about the mask after more than half a year going out with it.
Little tricks of the day to day
There is a lesson about masks that many users discovered on their first visit to the supermarket: with it on, it is very easy for glasses to fog up.
A lot.
In April, different videos began to circulate on social networks with tricks to avoid fogging, such as applying a small layer of bar soap and then cleaning the glasses with a chamois until removing remains.
As
Arturo Armada, professor at the Department of Optics at the University of Granada,
explained to
Verne
, this home trick works, although it has drawbacks: “If you clean the soap with excessive zeal, the lenses can continue to fog.
On the contrary, if you spread it less, it works better, but the soap layer itself makes you see worse ”.
However, there are other tricks: in the opticians they sell sprays and chamois to avoid fogging and, if you can choose one or the other glasses, the paste ones will fog up more.
"Those with a metal frame and an adjustable bridge are more detached from the face, so that the air circulates better and they fog up less," said the specialist.
Our # Traumatologist of #hombro and #codo Dr. Alejandro León teaches us a trick to use glasses and a mask against #COVID ー 19 #YoMeQuedoEnCasa pic.twitter.com/OeR9uKofce
- plenum clinic (@clinicaplenum) April 22, 2020
During these months we learned that it is advisable to change surgical masks every four hours, but it was not until the arrival of the autumn rains that we learned another lesson: what to do if they get wet.
In that case, according to several experts consulted by
Verne
in this report on what to do with the mask on rainy days, the ideal is to change it as soon as possible.
However, what to do with a wet mask depends on another factor that we have also learned in this half a year: that there are different types of masks, and not all of them serve the same purpose.
Disposable surgical masks serve, above all, to protect others from our possible viruses or bacteria.
For this reason, FPP2 and FPP3 valve masks, designed to protect ourselves but not to protect others, are sometimes called "selfish masks" and the Ministry of Consumption plans to ban them.
If a disposable mask gets wet, it needs to be changed as soon as possible.
In the case of reusable ones, WHO recommends letting them dry before reuse.
The pharmacist Gemma del Caño advised
Verne to
carry a couple of clean masks in a box or a paper bag for whatever might happen: falling on the ground, getting dirty ... Or getting wet in the rain.
"Plastic bags to store the masks are not recommended because they create an environment more prone to the growth of bacteria," he recalls.
Communication with mask
In the first outings with a mask accompanied by a friend, or even when going to the hairdresser or the greengrocer with her, it is possible that this accessory could seem an impediment: Do you hear us well?
Have my gestures been understood?
What if they don't see me smile after a funny comment?
We soon learned not to worry too much.
Although the face is important when it comes to communicating, we have other resources to make ourselves understood.
In this report by
Verne
on how to overcome the communication barrier of the mask, the linguist and professor at the University of Barcelona Lluís Payrató recalled that the mask "does not prevent communication through the gaze", which above all fulfills the function of maintaining the contact.
Nor does it hide "the movement of the eyebrows (with various meanings: greeting, surprise, disbelief ...)", or "the symbolic movements and gestures of the head", such as nodding or denying. Furthermore, although the face is a tool for Important non-verbal communication, it is not the only one. We also have the voice, the hands, the postures of our body ...
For those who use a mask has been a communication problem, it is for people with hearing difficulties, who in many cases resort to lip reading in order to communicate.
With the mask, it is impossible.
Carmen Jáudenes, president of the Spanish Confederation of Families of Deaf People (Fiapas), explained to
Verne
that masks are not the only obstacle caused by the pandemic: "The screens that we already see in many places where attention is paid to the public, or their own social distance are also barriers so that these people can understand themselves with their interlocutors ".
Jáudenes advises that, when we speak with a person with hearing difficulties, we can lower the mask momentarily to facilitate communication, whenever we increase the safety distance even more and whenever our interlocutor asks us to do so.
"We must also speak more slowly when we speak to them, not shouting to avoid distortion, gesturing or using the mobile to write what we want to say to them," adds the president of Fiapas.
Masks, sociology and psychology
Although we have been wearing the mask for half a year, it is still common to leave the house and, after closing the door - or even on the street - to realize that we have forgotten it.
These months we have learned that acquiring a habit (taking the mask on before leaving home, in this case) is not something that is achieved from one day to the next.
"It may take us a while, it is believed that around three months", explains to
Verne
Raquel Rodríguez Fernández, professor of Psychology at UNED.
"But despite this, we can continue to have those forgetfulness."
If half a year later we can continue to forget the mask, it is because the head has its limits.
"What is clear and proven is that our system has a limited capacity, so the more we overload it, the easier it is for it to make mistakes," explains Rodríguez.
For example, "it is much more likely that we forget to go through the dye to pick up a garment if we have had a difficult day at the office, in which we have had our heads occupied in various matters, than if we are in a more relaxed moment ".
We have been with covid for 8 months and I still forget my mask 🤡🤡
- ｓｃｈｅｉßｅ (@Mensita_) November 15, 2020
"We could say that forgetting the mask is almost another consequence of the high level of stress we are enduring," explains Rodríguez.
"However, there are little tricks to improve these forgetfulness and, in principle, we should not be too alarmed because we have them."
Among those "tricks", Rodríguez recommends, in addition to trying to lower the stress level, to carry out rigid routines, that is, to always leave the mask in the same place (and not every day in one place) and also leave it next to something that we do not usually forget, such as the mobile, the keys ... Or leave it next to the coat to put on both clothes at the same time.
Everyone should wear a mask, although not everyone can afford it.
According to this report by EL PAÍS, in Spain the purchase of masks can cost from 70 to 115 euros per month for families, an impossible outlay for the most vulnerable.
As of this November 17, this amount has been reduced due to a new reduction in the fixed price of disposable masks: now they cost 65 cents, 35% less than the cost approved in April of 96 cents.
At the same time that it became increasingly rare for us to see someone without a mask on the street, in social networks different denialist movements grew, supported by hoaxes and false news, which sailed in the opposite direction.
In August, when the outbreaks throughout Spain began to worsen, more than 2,500 people gathered in Madrid against the use of the mask.
Despite the fact that both health workers from different countries and NGOs specializing in fake news have warned of the public health risks of misinformation on social networks around the pandemic, the lies continue.
One of the most common lies about the use of a mask is that it produces hypoxia (lack of oxygen) and that it can cause dizziness, malaise and lack of reflexes.
Experience these months has taught us that this is not the case, in the same way that dozens of doctors who have been working with a mask for years have affirmed.
This hoax, according to
Maldita
explains
, is not supported by any scientific evidence either.
Masks and the environment
If disposable masks must be changed every four hours of use, and we have been using them for six months.
How many have passed through our faces?
According to a study published in the scientific journal
Environmental Science & Technology
, 129,000 million face masks are being consumed throughout the world during the pandemic per month.
The environmental NGO WWF Adena explains on its website that these masks take 100 years to decompose, so it is important to prevent them from ending up in nature so as not to further aggravate problems such as plastics that pollute the seas and oceans around the world. world.
Seagull cut free from coronavirus face covering pic.twitter.com/6Z6yrFP8f8
- The Independent (@Independent) July 21, 2020
To prevent them from ending up in the wild, the masks should be deposited in the gray (waste) container.
In the event that they belong to an infected person, they must first be placed in a closed bag.
During these months, some videos have become popular - such as this one published by the British newspaper
Independent
-
of animals trapped by the rubber bands of the masks.
Before throwing them away, it is also advisable to cut them.
Environmental NGOs such as WWF Adena or Greenpeace, as well as the Ministry for the Ecological Transition recommend that, to generate less waste and be more respectful of the environment, reusable masks be used.
These months we have also learned that these do not have infinite uses (the manufacturer must indicate how many washes they resist without losing effectiveness) and how to wash them to continue using them: with normal detergent and water at a temperature between 60º and 90º, according to Health recommendations.
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