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CousinIT

(9,151 posts)
Sat Jul 25, 2020, 05:49 PM Jul 2020

Doctor Runs 22 Miles Wearing Face Mask to Show it Doesn't Cut Oxygen Levels

https://www.newsweek.com/masks-covid-19-doctor-oxygen-1520060

A doctor has run 22 miles to work and back wearing a mask to help stop the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories around face coverings and to raise funds for charity.

Tom Lawton, who works at the Bradford Royal Infirmary in Yorkshire, north England, said he decided to run with the mask on, following his concerns for people with respiratory illnesses who want to wear a mask but are too scared to do so over false information.

He recorded that oxygen levels never fell below 98% of what it would usually be.

He told Newsweek: "There are a lot of people out there who just don't want to wear a mask and will find any excuse they can but the people I'm more concerned about are people with respiratory illnesses, who would like to wear a mask, would like to do their bit, but are scared because there have been reports that it causes hypoxia [a condition where the body is deprived of oxygen], I've seen some reports about people dropping dead while wearing masks.

"I'm someone who understands the science, I've got access to a pulse-oximeter (a device used to monitor the amount of oxygen carried around the body) so I can actually go out and show that it definitely doesn't.

"To make up for the fact that I'm fit and healthy, I thought if I'm running then I'm using 10 times the amount of oxygen as I would if I'm just sat here. If I can show that I can get 10 peoples worth of oxygen through the mask then hopefully someone who has a respiratory disease and wants to wear a mask, they can be reassured that it is safe thing to do."


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Doctor Runs 22 Miles Wearing Face Mask to Show it Doesn't Cut Oxygen Levels (Original Post) CousinIT Jul 2020 OP
Good on him. I never doubted it for a minute, but damn too hot to do that around here. hlthe2b Jul 2020 #1
Good Move, Doc! ProfessorGAC Jul 2020 #2
Sorry Doctor Turbineguy Jul 2020 #3
I have generally run with my mask on my chin and cover up if there is any person within a couple hun jorgevlorgan Jul 2020 #4
👍 K&R for visibility. crickets Jul 2020 #5

hlthe2b

(101,705 posts)
1. Good on him. I never doubted it for a minute, but damn too hot to do that around here.
Sat Jul 25, 2020, 05:58 PM
Jul 2020

Kudos for the effort.

ProfessorGAC

(64,413 posts)
2. Good Move, Doc!
Sat Jul 25, 2020, 06:15 PM
Jul 2020

For those of us in cold winter areas, they've been making stocking hats that cover the face, and folks have worn scarves around their face while outdoors for a few hundred years.
I don't recall people dropping like flies from hypoxia every cold winter week!

jorgevlorgan

(8,227 posts)
4. I have generally run with my mask on my chin and cover up if there is any person within a couple hun
Sat Jul 25, 2020, 07:44 PM
Jul 2020

Feet. But that is just so my glasses dont fog up in the middle of the run. I guess I should just go without glasses when I run and wear the damn mask all the time, to be safe.

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