Should You Wear a Mask? You’re on Your Own to Figure It Out
Now is a confusing time in the pandemic. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are getting infected every day, and 3,000 or so are dying. Earlier in the pandemic, numbers this high would have triggered mask mandates and business closures. Today, in the face of these grim stats, states are instead relaxing their pandemic protocols.
That’s partly because even as so many Americans are dying, even more Americans are dying to get back to normal. States including New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Nevada recently announced that they are dropping mask mandates in some form, whether for schools or the general public.
However, the federal government thinks it’s too soon. “Around the country, I know people are really cautiously optimistic as they're seeing case rates go down, but what I will say is that we still have about 290,000 cases a day and hospitalizations that are higher than they ever were in our Delta peak,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on SiriusXM’s Doctor Radio this week. “Right now, I don't think, is the moment to start relaxing those restrictions.” National mask mandates remain in place for trains, planes, and buses, and the CDC still recommends wearing them indoors where viral transmission is high—which is almost the entire country. The Biden Administration even started giving away free N95 respirators recently to help Americans upgrade their masks.
What should you do with all of this conflicting guidance? Is it time to ditch your mask or not?
“To me, it feels just a little early because cases and hospitalizations are still high,” says Linsey Marr, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech and an expert in the airborne transmission of viruses. “They are trending downwards, but I would like to see those numbers a little lower—maybe in just a week or two—before we all unmask.”
Whether or not you should wear a mask depends on your individual concerns. Marr says she’ll consider taking her mask off once there’s no longer strain on the health care system. “I’m boosted, I’ve been exposed through my kids going to school. I’m not that worried about my own health,” she says.
But if you are actively trying to avoid getting infected, then masking up in indoor public spaces is a good idea. New CDC data found that people who wore masks indoors were much less likely to get sick than those who didn't wear them, and N95 and KN95 respirators proved to be particularly effective: people who wore those were 83% less likely to test positive than those who didn't wear a mask. “So even if people around you are unmasked, you’ll still be well protected wearing a respirator,” Marr says.
Still, people are tired after two long years of masking up, and it’s not unreasonable to begin contemplating life after masks. “We do need to be getting away from wearing masks everywhere all the time,” says Don Milton, professor of environmental and occupational health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health—who has studied airborne infection for more than 25 years. “We’re just coming down from such a high peak that it's not like we're out of the woods yet.”
Milton recommends “look[ing] at the case rates in your area, your vulnerability, and your family network’s vulnerability” to determine whether or not to wear a mask. “You want to see a positive test rate that’s very low: below 1%, like half a percent,” he suggests as a benchmark. New cases per 100,000 people should be around one, he says, “and I want to see the infection rate be very low,”—meaning the number of new people each infected person will spread the virus to, a key indicator of whether viral spread is growing or shrinking. Of course, most areas are nowhere near such a low level of virus transmission yet.
Even among experts who respect one another, there is not widespread agreement about how to think about masking right now, Marr says. “There is no right answer. There are so many different factors to consider, like cases, hospitalizations, vaccination rates, the severity of disease, and herd immunity.”
As mandates dissolve, one potential upside to a masking reprieve is that people will get a taste of normalcy again. “We don't want to keep mandates beyond the time they're needed, because then people lose trust,” Marr says. “If there comes a surge in the future when you do really need them, everyone is burned out.”
TODAY'S CORONAVIRUS OUTLOOK
More than 403.2 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 12 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 5.7 million people have died. On Feb. 9, there were 2.4 million new cases and 12,497 new deaths confirmed globally.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending, in terms of cases:
And in terms of deaths:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here's every country that has reported over 5.5 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded more than 77 million coronavirus cases as of 12 a.m. E.T. today. More than 912,000 people have died. On Feb. 9, there were 213,628 new cases and 3,432 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending in terms of cases:
And in terms of deaths:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Feb. 10, 12 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
As states end mask mandates in U.S. schools, parents of children with medical conditions or disabilities face a tough decision: whether to keep sending them to school—where they may be exposed to the virus–or keep them at home, where they'll be socially isolated and at risk for falling behind academically. Instead of choosing, some parents are fighting the mask-optional orders in court, Nik Popli reports for TIME . Failing to keep mask mandates in place segregates children with disabilities from their peers and prevents them from getting an equal education, they argue, which violates federal laws including the American with Disabilities Act. Lawsuits making similar claims have been filed in several states including Virginia, Texas, South Carolina and Iowa.
A large new study of 11 million health records from U.S. veterans finds that people who got COVID-19 had much higher risks for 20 different heart and vessel problems one year later, Sciencereports. The risks even extended to people whose cases weren't severe enough for hospitalization. The results suggest that COVID-19 may soon become the highest risk factor for cardiovascular conditions—even more than smoking and obesity, one doctor told Science.
The Philippines reopened its borders to tourists today after being closed for two years, the New York Timesreports. Visitors from 157 countries are now allowed in as long as they are fully vaccinated and provide a negative COVID-19 test. Officials are reopening the country in hopes of boosting the economy through tourism, a major source of revenue for the Philippines.
Prince Charles, who contracted COVID-19 in March 2020, again tested positive today, the BBC reports. He is not exhibiting symptoms but met two days ago with the Queen, who is 95. Buckingham Palace has not confirmed whether the Queen has tested positive or negative for the virus out of privacy concerns.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com. If you have specific questions you'd like us to answer, please send them to covidquestions@time.com.
If you were forwarded this and want to sign up to receive it daily, click here.
Today's newsletter was written by Mandy Oaklander and edited by Elijah Wolfson.
沒有留言:
張貼留言