冠状病毒常见问题:自制口罩有效吗?

冠状病毒常见问题:自制口罩有效吗?

Since the beginning of the global coronavirus pandemic, Americans have been told by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention not to wear masks unless they are sick, caring for a sick person who is unable to wear one or working in health care.

自全球冠状病毒大流行开始以来，美国疾病控制与预防中心就告诫美国人，除非生病、照顾无法戴口罩的病人或在医疗机构工作，否则不要戴口罩。

Numerous reasons have been given: That they don't offer significant protection from germs. That regular people don't typically wear them correctly. That they'll give people a false sense of security and cause them to be lax about hand-washing and social distancing.

人们给出了许多理由:它们不能有效地保护人体免受细菌侵害。普通人一般不会正确地佩戴它们。他们会给人们一种虚假的安全感，导致他们在洗手和(保持)社会距离方面松懈。

And most of all: that there aren't enough masks and respirators for the health-care workers who desperately need them so leave the masks to them.

最重要的是:没有足够的口罩和呼吸器供急需的医护人员使用，所以还是把口罩留给他们吧。

With this new attitude come many questions — which we'll attempt to answer here.

这种新的态度带来了许多问题——我们将在这里尝试回答这些问题。

Can face coverings prevent the spread of the virus?

口罩能防止病毒传播吗?

The primary benefit of covering your nose and mouth is that you protect others. While there is still much to be learned about the novel coronavirus, it appears that many people who are infected are shedding the virus – through coughs, sneezes and other respiratory droplets – for 48 hours before they start feeling sick. And others who have the virus – up to 25%, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield — may never feel symptoms but may still play a role in transmitting it.

捂住鼻子和嘴的主要好处是保护别人。虽然对这种新型冠状病毒还有很多需要了解的地方，但似乎许多感染者在开始感觉不舒服之前，已经通过咳嗽、打喷嚏和其他呼吸道飞沫将病毒排出了48小时。根据疾病控制和预防中心主任罗伯特·雷德菲尔德博士的说法，其他感染了这种病毒的人——高达25%，可能永远不会感觉到症状，但仍可能在传播过程中发挥作用。

That's why wearing a mask even if you don't feel sick can be a good idea.

这就是为什么即使你不觉得不舒服也戴口罩是个好主意的原因。

If I'm wearing a mask and someone sneezes on me, would the mask offer some protection?

如果我戴着口罩，有人朝我打喷嚏，口罩能提供保护吗?

Yes. But only if you use the mask properly and don't touch it with your hands afterward.

是的。但前提是你正确使用口罩，之后不要用手触摸它。

Those droplets from a cough or sneeze would hit your mask instead of your mouth and nose — good news. But the next step is to take the mask off by the ear bands and either wash or discard it – without touching the front of it.

咳嗽或打喷嚏时的飞沫会落在口罩上，而不是嘴巴和鼻子上，这是个好消息。但下一步是把口罩从耳箍上取下，清洗或丢弃，不要接触口罩的正面。

If you touch the front of the mask, whatever that person coughed or sneezed on it is now on your hands.

如果你触摸口罩的正面，无论那个人在上面咳嗽或打喷嚏，现在都在你的手上。

What about homemade masks?

自制口罩怎么样?

As NPR has previously reported, some research has shown that cotton T-shirt material and tea towels might help block respiratory droplets emitting from sick people — though it's not clear how much protection they provide.

据美国国家公共电台此前报道，一些研究表明，棉质t恤和茶巾可能有助于阻止病人呼出的飞沫，尽管还不清楚它们能提供多少保护。

We don't yet know exactly how effective homemade masks are, but Griffin thinks they're a good idea — he's even taken to wearing one over his N95 respirator.

我们还不知道自制口罩到底有多有效，但格里芬认为这是个好主意他甚至开始在N95口罩上戴上了自制口罩。

How often do I need to wash it?

我需要多久洗一次?

Griffin says to think of a mask as like underwear: It needs to be washed after each use.

格里芬说，把口罩想象成内衣:每次使用后都需要清洗。

So if you're wearing a cloth mask, put it into the laundry basket immediately. If it's disposable, throw it away.

所以如果你戴着布口罩，马上把它放进洗衣篮里。如果是一次性的，就扔掉。

Is there one best mask design?

有没有最好的口罩设计?

There is little data so far on cloth or homemade masks in general — let alone data that dictates how many pleats to put on your home-sewn version.

到目前为止，关于布料或自制口罩的数据还很少——更别说那些规定了在自家缝制的口罩上要打多少褶的数据了。

Griffin says the best material to use is a tight-weave cotton. "Don't use a synthetic or a polyester because they've looked at the virus's ability to survive on surfaces, and spandex is the worst," he says.

格里芬说，最好的材料是紧密编织的棉布。“不要使用合成纤维或聚酯纤维，因为他们已经研究了病毒在表面上的生存能力，而氨纶是最糟糕的，”他说。

Would a scarf work?

围巾有用吗?

Probably not as well as a mask that fits closely to your face.

也许不如一个贴合你脸的口罩好。

"You can imagine if you put a loosely knit scarf with lots of holes in it ... that would not be very effective," says Dr. Michael Klompas, an infectious disease physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

“你可以想象，如果你围一条织得很松、上面有很多洞的围巾。。。这不会非常有效，”布里格姆女子医院传染病医生迈克尔·克洛帕斯博士说。

The goal is to create a barrier that catches droplets and keeps others from coming in, so you want coverage that is tightly woven and close-fitting.

这样做的目的是为了制造一种屏障，既能捕捉飞沫，又能防止其他飞沫进入，所以你需要的是编织紧密、贴身的覆盖物。