What is the source of information that primitive DIY masks does "quite a lot" to reduce exposure of infection, or washing hands is not a "critical measure" against the virus? Nothing I have seen or heard suggests those things. I am not sure who would be saying this, however these comments are contrary to what's being said by medical professionals here in the US. Though what we do in our own domiciles is our own business, what we do in public in the hiking trail environment is our collective business and responsibility.
The CDC in the US (as of yesterday) disagrees with advising healthy people to use masks:
[FONT="]The Centers for Disease Control generally disagrees. It recommends
face masks for people who are coughing and sneezing to prevent them from spreading COVID-19 to those around them. The CDC says people in close contact with an infected person may also benefit from wearing masks. It has, however, argued that masks are not designed to protect healthy people from getting the virus and there are reasons the general public shouldn’t wear them:[/FONT]
- A mask can actually promote the spread of germs.
- The masks become damp while being worn and should be thrown out after each use.
- People wearing them may touch their face more as they adjust their masks, which can promote infection
The N95 respirator mask is about the only type that will protect the wearer against infection, which are not readily available to the public. Though masks of many types, including primitive can be helpful to reduce the spread of disease for those who are infected and/or symptomatic, they do not work well in reverse to protect those who are not infected. Viruses are extremely small (10 to 100 times smaller than bacteria) and can very easily find their way through many layers of filters when inhaling through fabric of most any type. To put it into terms most can relate to, it would be like keeping pollen dust from coming through a screen in an open window. Common dust masks or homemade bandana masks are even less beneficial to prevent the virus from spreading to other people and surfaces, but do help slow the airborne release of particles will settle on people or surfaces when coughing.
On the trail, wearing a mask of any type is difficult if not highly impractical, breathing through a mask or cloth is difficult for one, sweat, fogging of glasses, and snags from low tree branches and brush make these difficult to keep properly positioned, once out of place one has to use their hands to adjust them, which typically will cause fingers (even gloved) from touching the face. This alone defeats the purpose of the mask.
Then there is the decision of when to use it and for how long as you approach or move away from others on the trail. You may find yourself behind someone who is infected but not yet sick who is breathing hard as they work their way up the trail, you are following in the air they have just expelled, which microscopic droplets of air (think cold foggy days when you can actually see some of that breath) are released with virus in them and can linger in suspension for long periods of time. When do you put the mask on or take it off? What if there is a breeze carrying expelled breath from others, what footage should be used to trigger mask use? What do you do with a regular dusk mask or a bandana once you have been through this exhaled air by one or several people and you remove it from your face, touching the surfaces exposed to that air? Without proper disinfecting processes, that dust mask or bandana are now potentially covered with the virus you are trying to protect yourself against. Handling the mask to put it on for the next hiker contact sharply increases the likelihood of infection or worse, passing it to others without knowing you are inflicting illness on others.
On washing of hands, the CDC advises:
Wash your hands frequentlyRegularly and thoroughly clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water.
Why? Washing your hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand rub kills viruses that may be on your hands.
Perhaps Europe has a different point of view and medical data that suggest hand washing is not a critical element in controlling the spread of disease, so I will be interested to see who is saying that, what qualifications they possess to say it, and in what context it is being said in.
Overall, what makes the most sense is the practice of social isolation and sheltering in place to reduce contact with those carrying virus. For now, these are probably the best two methods people can use to best avoid illness. This puts hiking into the grey area of disease management, while the social distance element can be employed a lot, it is not always assured in narrow tread way foot bridges and other places where there is no place to step out of the way 6-foot or more.
I don't mean to sound harsh in this, but we as a community need to be careful in promoting things that are clearly against published best practice and common sense. It's not about you personally, it's about the information and doing what we can to vet new information and adapt it for the activity that unites us.