With Canada shutting its borders and reducing province-to-province travel, the cases of coronavirus we’ve seen in the past couple months have been related to community transmission.
‘Community transmission’, or ‘community spread’, is when the virus transfers – and sometimes without explanation – in a community setting. Practicing good hygiene, using disinfectant, wearing a face mask, and maintaining social distancing can effectively cut down on any community transmission bringing it close to zero. This, however, relies on everyone wearing a disposable or reusable face mask.
If we look outside, the majority of Canadians continue to not wear face masks. It is within their rights to do so as there is no mandatory order to wear a face mask. That said, there are some notable benefits.
Face masks covering our nose and mouth reduces the likelihood that we will transfer droplets mouth-to-surface and infect others. Although face masks hold no inherent value in one’s own protection, they help others as they block your mouth opening. Anything coming out is caught within the web of a face mask. There’s nowhere for it to go from there and so if you have coronavirus, you retain it within the contents of your mask as long as it’s worn correctly.
If every single person in our local communities wore masks, this would mean every mouth is covered. Whether someone is symptomatic or asymptomatic, droplets wouldn’t be able to transfer from their mouth onto surfaces or onto others.
Assuming this were possible, Canada could eradicate the virus or at least bring cases as close to zero as is reasonable. Until we have a vaccine, COVID-19 won’t truly be eradicated but mandating face mask use plays a role in taking the virus seriously and reducing the risk of you infecting others, potentially causing deaths, hospitalizations, and injury.
Is a mandatory face mask order likely in Canada – absolutely not. This doesn’t mean we as Canadians shouldn’t be wearing face masks. If you’re entering into a public place – such as transit, grocery stores, doctors’ offices, or elsewhere – a face mask is protection.
A lot of us may think thoughts like, “I’m not sick. I don’t have any COVID-19 symptoms. A face mask isn’t protecting me in any way so why wear one?” The answer’s simple – we know asymptomatic cases exist. Just because someone isn’t exhibiting symptoms of coronavirus, it doesn’t mean they can’t be a carrier. For the sake of our seniors, our families, our friends, and vulnerable Canadians with compromised immune systems, it’s our responsibility to protect them.
Though case numbers are down, we aren’t out of the woods yet when it comes to COVID-19. If you don’t know where to buy disposable face masks in Canada, please visit Lierre.ca. Shopping online for face mask, face shield, hand sanitizer and other PPE with Lierre.ca, the order and re-order process is easy. Save time, money, and get your household equipped with the face masks they should have.