How Long Will We Continue To Wear Masks?

How Long Will We Continue To Wear Masks? This is the most curious question of the last period… Simple mask covers saved many lives last year. They can be permanent.

How different was everything last year… Before March 2020, if you were not working in a hospital environment or a construction site, you would generally never wear a face mask. Now there is no one who does not wear a mask. In a global epidemic, this is how life is lived. So when COVID-19 eases, will masks go with it?

Although experts say that caution should be exercised, the epidemic rules of the few lucky people are easing. For example, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a new guideline on March 8 that fully vaccinated people (two weeks after the second dose of Moderna or Pfizer vaccine or a single dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine) can meet with other people with full vaccines indoors and without a mask. says.

As of March 10, only 32 million Americans (about 9.7 percent of the population) have been fully vaccinated. However, this number is expected to continue to increase in the coming months. At this point, much desired herd immunity will now become a matter of distribution (and public acceptance).

Despite these promising scenarios, the dangers have not disappeared. New COVID-19 variants (subspecies) that could reduce the impact of existing vaccines in the fight against infection continue to appear in every corner of the world. Disease scientists expect the number of cases to continue to increase in the spring. Although Anthony Fauci, president of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says he will "hold tight" to his daughter after vaccination, world-renowned immunologists say Americans may need to wear masks by 2022 to stay truly safe.

Although the masks are gradually removed as people are vaccinated, experts say it may be a good idea to keep a few masks for future use.

How did the masks help the battle with COVID-19 and why didn't we wear them sooner?

Wearing a mask was something new for everyone until they got used to it last year. But the use of large-scale masks is nothing new. Face-covering drapes have been a popular public health measure in East Asia for more than a century. According to Emma J. Teng, a historian at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "it seems that masks emerged with the flu epidemic in 1918 and became widespread in Japan for the first time." However, the use of masks gained momentum after the outbreak of another coronavirus known as SARS in 2002. They are now commonplace in countries such as China and Korea. People who live here wear masks for kindness to others if they feel sick. There are even those who wear it to prevent environmental pollution.

Face masks have never entered the popular culture of many countries, perhaps because SARS did not reach many countries on a population scale. Health officials in many countries advising against wearing a mask did not do well in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Only on April 3, 2020, the CDC recommended wearing fabric face masks to protect other people, even if the wearer is not.

There were many reasons for not universally recommending wearing masks. At least one seemed scientifically sound: San Francisco - University of California School of Medicine Monica Gandhi notes that there was little evidence back then to say that masks could definitely prevent COVID-19 transmission. In fact, most of the things we know at that point are not about real and living people; She came from research on mannequins.

For example, in a study based on SARS and swine flu and published in Applied Biosafety in 2010, four types of face covers (a surgical mask, a pre-shaped dust mask, a bandana, and a N95 respirator) were worn on heads made of plastic foam, followed by a spray. Using the device, saline solution was sprayed into the air around the heads. In the study, it was found that N95 masks best stopped aerosol spreading. But scientists say that these masks; They hardly knew how to work in the prosperous environment, weather conditions, and even in actual conditions where the way people talk to each other could affect virus spread.

As a result, scientists working in the laboratory were able to say that certain face masks "physically block particles". "But there was no research that suggested this should be done in an epidemic," says Gandhi.

However, in the past year, researchers have carefully studied the benefits of wearing a mask, both for the people around the masked individual and for the person wearing the mask. These studies uncovered abundant evidence (from a range of sources such as mannequin studies, statistical analysis, and actual world conditions) showing that masks can reduce the danger of catching and spreading the new coronavirus.

Well after that COVID-19 how will we act to prevent and other infectious diseases?

If masks are so effective at preventing various airborne infections, would they completely disappear from our lives?

We will probably reach a point where there is no need to wear masks every day, such as the need to cover face in grocery stores and other workplaces. Gandhi says this mass unmasking process will be "regional". While some states, such as the state of Texas in the US, have already withdrawn mandates, experts say this is a dangerous decision because very few adults are fully vaccinated.

Other states and cities will also progress on their timelines. Some will expect "herd immunity", where the likelihood of its spread in the community is significantly reduced as enough people become immune to COVID-19. However, some may continue to be obliged to wear a mask even if a large part of the society is vaccinated.

There is a solid rationale at this point: The virus will likely rise again in the fall and winter. In the coming years, it will likely become a regional disease and will increase again periodically, like seasonal flu.

Wearing a mask may remain a social obligation where it is no longer a health obligation. A year ago, it was almost unimaginable to cover your face and nose before entering a job. But a year later, this practice now feels like a habit. Part of the added benefit of wearing a mask is that even if the danger of COVID-19 is slowly decreasing; for some (even among those who have already been vaccinated) it will seem heavier than the burden of wearing a mask. After a year of endless anxiety, people may also find it difficult to accept the new reality; they may need to practice to leave the house without a mask. Gandhi says that as we transition to this "new normal," face veils can now feel just like kindness.

Moreover; As with everything in science, the research behind the masks continues to evolve constantly. While it is now clear that layered, well-wrapped masks do an excellent job in stopping the spread of the new coronavirus, not all viruses and infections spread the same. Some research suggests that masks do not prevent virus infections that cause the common cold as well as they prevent SARS-CoV-2 contact. The reason for this may be that while flu viruses can still spread from the surface of objects, it may be seen that COVID-19 is mostly spread from the air. But to wear a mask for a year and carefully monitor personal and public health hazards; It has taught people that perhaps covering their faces when they feel a little bad can mask future epidemics.

When the first "Danger is over" signal is given, set your mask on fire or never take it off again; Listening to public health experts will continue to be important.