I've continued wearing my mask as often as possible when I'm indoors in a public place - grocery store, etc.
I'm vaxxed and triple boosted, and as far as I know, I've never had COVID.
So while it's not an absolute, I can make a fair assumption that what I'm doing works.
Experts recommend when and how to use them, as Covid continues to circulate.
As new Covid variants gain traction, reinfections become more common and cases climb in certain areas, a few schools and businesses are reinstating mask requirements. Experts say it makes sense to increase precautions, including turning back to masks.
“I tend to say, if you’re going to go out, make sure you have a mask in your car, a couple masks at home or at work, so you always have something available to put on,” said Andrew Pekosz, a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Here’s a refresher on where, when and how to mask.
When should you wear a mask inside?
Everyone’s risk tolerance varies, Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, said. But particularly if you are 65 or older, have an underlying condition that makes you more vulnerable to severe disease or are pregnant, he recommends wearing a mask whenever you are in a relatively confined, crowded indoor space. That can include stores, offices and public transportation.
“Certainly every time you add another person to the room, particularly people who are within three to five feet of you, that increases your chance of getting infected, exponentially,” Dr. Pekosz added.
Time matters, too: Darting in and out of a packed grocery store is less risky than working all day in a busy office, for example. Ten minutes is a good marker to keep in mind, Dr. Pekosz said. If you’re headed somewhere indoors for longer than that, you may want to put on a mask beforehand.
More on the Coronavirus Pandemic
- An Uptick in Cases: Echoing patterns in prior years, coronavirus infections are slowly ticking up in parts of the United States, the harbinger of a possible fall and winter wave.
- A New Variant: EG.5 is now the dominant Covid variant in the United States. How worried should people be about it?
- Reinfections: Experts who study Covid agree that for most people, getting infected for a second — or third or fourth — time is basically inevitable. But they are still unsure about how damaging reinfections can be.
- Covid’s Origins: More than three years into the coronavirus pandemic and untold millions of people dead, we still don’t know how it started.
- When should you wear a mask outside?
- Outdoor transmission is generally rare, but if you’re in a scenario where people are “jammed together and yelling,” Dr. Schaffner said, like at a sporting event or a concert, you might want to wear a mask.
Which type of mask should you wear?
Dr. Marr recommends N95, KN95 or KF94 masks, all of which filter out over 90 percent of virus particles, she said, making them far more effective than surgical or cloth masks at reducing your chance of getting infected with Covid. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a list of resources for where to find free N95s.
The experts said that a mask should fit snugly across your face and cover both your nose and mouth; wearing a mask below your nose will do very little to shield you from the virus.
A high-quality mask “does wonders in terms of protecting you from getting infected, but you have to wear it the right way,” Dr. Pekosz said. “If you don’t crimp the metal thing around your nose, if it’s loose around you, then you’re probably breathing around the mask, not through the mask. And that is not going to protect you.”
Some experts estimate that you can use a mask for a total of about 40 hours before it’s time to replace it. If you notice fraying, creases, new holes or dirt on your mask, you should replace it before then, Dr. Marr said. If your mask is uncomfortable, or if you feel like it’s moving too much across your face, Dr. Marr recommends trying different brands to find the best fit.
Do you need to mask after being exposed?
If you get the dreaded text that someone you recently spent time with has tested positive for Covid, the C.D.C. recommends putting on a high-quality mask as soon as possible, and keeping it on for 10 full days when you’re around other people. Even if you test negative, the agency says you should still wear a mask in public indoor settings. It can take several days for people to develop symptoms, Dr. Pekosz said, and testing too early can lead to false negatives.
Is one-way masking effective?
Even if you’re the only person wearing one on the subway or in your office, a high-quality mask can still meaningfully reduce your risk of getting infected. “You’re going to be pretty well protected,” said Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, a professor of global health and infectious diseases at Stanford Medicine, because you’re guarding your face from the particles around you.
There are additional ways to build up your defenses against the virus: sanitizing your hands before touching your face, social distancing from others and getting an updated booster shot when the new vaccines are available.
While many people are exhausted by this long pandemic, Dr. Maldonado stressed it’s important to remember that we have tools to reduce our risk. “Masks work, period,” she said. “Whether you choose to use them or not is a different matter. But they definitely work.”
LONDON/CHICAGO, Aug 24 (Reuters)
A highly mutated COVID variant called BA.2.86 has now been detected in Switzerland and South Africa in addition to Israel, Denmark, the U.S. and the U.K., according to a leading World Health Organization official.
The Omicron offshoot carries more than 35 mutations in key portions of the virus compared with XBB.1.5, the dominant variant through most of 2023 - a number roughly on par with the Omicron variant that caused record infections compared to its predecessor.
It was first spotted in Denmark on July 24 after the virus infecting a patient at risk of becoming severely ill was sequenced. It has since been detected in other symptomatic patients, in routine airport screening, and in wastewater samples in a handful of countries.
A dozen scientists around the world said while it was important to monitor BA.2.86, it was unlikely to cause a devastating wave of severe disease and death given immune defenses built up worldwide from vaccination and prior infection.
"It's still low numbers," Maria Van Kerkhove, COVID-19 technical lead at the WHO, said in her first interview regarding BA.2.86.
That the known cases are not linked suggests it is already circulating more widely, particularly given reduced surveillance worldwide, she said.
Scientists are testing how well updated COVID-19 vaccines will work against BA.2.86. Kerkhove noted that vaccines have been better at preventing severe illness and death than re-infection.
“We are in a very different phase (of the pandemic) than if this popped up in the first year,” said Marion Koopmans, a Dutch virologist who advises the WHO.
Dr. Nirav Shah, principal deputy director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the agency and others spotted the new variant last week, held meetings with scientists throughout the weekend, and issued a risk assessment on Wednesday. There have been nine such cases detected as of Aug. 23 and the variant was also found in wastewater in Switzerland.
It appears that current tests and medications remain effective against BA.2.86, although the variant may be more capable of causing infection in vaccinated people and those who have had COVID previously, the assessment said. There is no evidence yet that it is causing more severe illness.
Still, the potential risk must be taken seriously, experts said, and surveillance must continue, if not at levels undertaken at the pandemic's peak.
"Governments cannot drop the ball," Van Kerkhove said, adding that the coronavirus continues to circulate, evolve, infect and kill people.
The Omicron offshoot carries more than 35 mutations in key portions of the virus compared with XBB.1.5, the dominant variant through most of 2023 - a number roughly on par with the Omicron variant that caused record infections compared to its predecessor.
It was first spotted in Denmark on July 24 after the virus infecting a patient at risk of becoming severely ill was sequenced. It has since been detected in other symptomatic patients, in routine airport screening, and in wastewater samples in a handful of countries.
A dozen scientists around the world said while it was important to monitor BA.2.86, it was unlikely to cause a devastating wave of severe disease and death given immune defenses built up worldwide from vaccination and prior infection.
"It's still low numbers," Maria Van Kerkhove, COVID-19 technical lead at the WHO, said in her first interview regarding BA.2.86.
That the known cases are not linked suggests it is already circulating more widely, particularly given reduced surveillance worldwide, she said.
Scientists are testing how well updated COVID-19 vaccines will work against BA.2.86. Kerkhove noted that vaccines have been better at preventing severe illness and death than re-infection.
“We are in a very different phase (of the pandemic) than if this popped up in the first year,” said Marion Koopmans, a Dutch virologist who advises the WHO.
Dr. Nirav Shah, principal deputy director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the agency and others spotted the new variant last week, held meetings with scientists throughout the weekend, and issued a risk assessment on Wednesday. There have been nine such cases detected as of Aug. 23 and the variant was also found in wastewater in Switzerland.
It appears that current tests and medications remain effective against BA.2.86, although the variant may be more capable of causing infection in vaccinated people and those who have had COVID previously, the assessment said. There is no evidence yet that it is causing more severe illness.
Still, the potential risk must be taken seriously, experts said, and surveillance must continue, if not at levels undertaken at the pandemic's peak.
"Governments cannot drop the ball," Van Kerkhove said, adding that the coronavirus continues to circulate, evolve, infect and kill people.
- more -
Still, “... at this point, there is no evidence that this variant is causing more severe illness,” the agency said, and “CDC's current assessment is that [the] updated vaccine will be effective at reducing severe disease and hospitalization.”
1,138,602 Dead Americans
It's still out there
Don't get stupid
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