Monday Memo – What does a face covering do?

In the UK it is now compulsory to wear a face covering when in a public setting, where you are unable to maintain a social distance of 2 metres from someone outside of your household.

In order for the face coverings to be effective, they must be worn the correct way covering both your mouth and your nose.

But what does wearing a face covering actually do?

Face coverings are worn to protect others around you and not to protect yourself as the wearer. By having your nose and your mouth covered, you are stopping any potential transmission of the virus from you onto someone else.

The more people who therefore wear a mask, the more we decrease the possibility of passing on the virus if we are infected without knowing.