{"id":115,"date":"2021-01-16T17:13:40","date_gmt":"2021-01-16T17:13:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/thinking-historically-about-covid-19\/?p=115"},"modified":"2021-04-29T15:37:40","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T15:37:40","slug":"the-evolution-of-face-masks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/thinking-historically-about-covid-19\/2021\/01\/16\/the-evolution-of-face-masks\/","title":{"rendered":"The Evolution of Face Masks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Covid 19 has impacted and changed everything from how we socialize and what we wear. The institutionalization of face masks to protect from Covid-19 is one of the big changes in preventing the disease. Wearing masks to protect oneself from sickness, is nothing new to our society and has been implemented many times over the decades with different pandemics. The Face mask has evolved into many shapes with different parts to protect the individual from the disease. But unfortunately, not all have deemed face masks a positive force in preventing disease. Many have deemed it unconstitutional and ineffective. But data proves otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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https:\/\/medium.com\/wadepthealth\/cloth-face-coverings-6f083b366fab <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You may be amazed to see the beginnings of what face masks were in the 1700s. Doctors would wear long-beaked masks to prevent the disease from spreading to them when taking care of patients. At that time they believed that disease was spread through miasmas or the smell of uncleanliness, they would put flowers or nice smelling things at the end of the beak. This was done to mask the bad stenches they may face when doing their duties. Their reasoning behind wearing masks at that time were very different compared to why we wear masks now. Doctors in the 1700s believed it was the bad smell that was causing disease while we wear masks because of how covid can spread through respiratory droplets from a person’s cough or sneeze. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As scientific discoveries increased so did the evolution of masks. In the 1800’s the discovery of droplets from the respiratory system being the cause of the disease spreading. This then lead to the beaked face mask to transform into something completely different. The mask was created from multiple lays of gauze to be hung infront of the nose and mouth to prevent droplets from breaking through. These masks were once again worn by doctors and those in the medical field to protect them from disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In 1918, there was a huge outbreak of the floor, having places all over America close. Besides the issues in the current day and age, this was one of the largest examples of people not caring for others safety. The flu back in World War one was a huge contributor to the deaths of many soldiers and citizens alike. Both in America and in Europe. Back in those times, wearing a mask was also seen as a patriotic duty, to save the American lives. The ceasing of this plague was actually taken a lot more seriously. In 1918, while there were still many who didn\u2019t wear the masks for whatever reason, it might actually lead to some more public repercussions. Those who didn\u2019t abide by this law, were sometimes shunned by neighbors and most likely disliked by all those Americans who had family currently in the military. The flu was a symbol of the restless death that spread along all over the world. Even today, it still stands and the attitude about wearing masks from back then, has only gotten worse over the course of time.\"During

https:\/\/www.history.com\/news\/1918-pandemic-public-health-campaigns

<\/a>Now we go into today\u2019s mask wearing issues. Many people believe that covid-19 one of the largest pandemics in history, is fake. There are so many records of deaths and illnesses but many believe either that’s it fake or that wearing masks is a symbol of them losing their rights. No one in America today,is currently enforcing the wearing of masks, to the point where you could get arrested for disobeying. However, as a way to try and enforce it without legal matters stores and schools won\u2019t allow you in without one. As time went on with this pandemic and the worse it got, eventually it became almost like a law to wear them. Even then, still many people walk the streets with this very harmful plague and don\u2019t wear masks at all. This can only be attributed to the selfishness of the individual rather than them seeing what really matters. Masks wearing in today\u2019s day and age, is almost like a battle. Between the nation that wishes to safeguard its people against those who only care for themselves.\"The
https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/media\/releases\/2020\/p0714-americans-to-wear-masks.html

<\/a>In conclusion to all these. We look at the overview and the actual benefits masks have brought to us during all these different times. The biggest difference between them all, is the mindset people took during the time period. Of course, there were always those who opposed the masks for selfish reasons, but when the majority did what was right, the pandemic could be overcome. We have seen that as an example in the present day. When more people wear masks for the safety of others, we band together showing our resolve as we wait out the storm. Covid-19 went down for a while but has spiked back up, both because more people were being selfish and because of the winter season rearing its ugly head. However, if the people of the world band together to fit this plague, then it will be overcome time and time again. History itself has shown us, its possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources used:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/thetyee.ca\/Analysis\/2020\/07\/27\/Masks-Brief-History-Plagues-Pandemics\/ P2 + photo<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/faq.html#:~:text=The%20virus%20that%20causes%20COVID,many%20affected%20geographic%20areas. P2 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC7309199\/. P3+photo https:\/\/www.history.com\/news\/1918-spanish-flu-mask-wearing-resistance <\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.ucsf.edu\/news\/2020\/06\/417906\/still-confused-about-masks-heres-science-behind-how-face-masks-prevent https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/d41586-020-02801-8<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Covid 19 has impacted and changed everything from how we socialize and what we wear. The institutionalization of face masks to protect from Covid-19 is one of the big changes in preventing the disease. Wearing masks to protect oneself from sickness, is nothing new to our society and has been …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":115,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"portfolio_post_id":0,"portfolio_citation":"","portfolio_annotation":"","openlab_post_visibility":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science-and-disease"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/thinking-historically-about-covid-19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/thinking-historically-about-covid-19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/thinking-historically-about-covid-19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/thinking-historically-about-covid-19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/115"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/thinking-historically-about-covid-19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/thinking-historically-about-covid-19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":390,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/thinking-historically-about-covid-19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115\/revisions\/390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/thinking-historically-about-covid-19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/thinking-historically-about-covid-19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/thinking-historically-about-covid-19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}