“We should never fully return to our maskless society where only health care providers donned a mask, because judicious use of masks will continue to save lives” (emphasis added). This is not the fringe statement of some obscure crank. It is the view of two doctors at New York’s Mount Sinai School of Medicine, one of the nation’s most prestigious medical schools, writing in a New York Daily News op-ed this spring.
Now that the COVID-19 pandemic is retreating, it may seem absurd to propose further mask mandates in response to lesser—or even seasonal—viral threats. But Julia Carrie Wong, writing in the Guardian, reports that many Americans like their masks just fine. Francesca, a 46-year-old, fully vaccinated professor in New York, will not abandon her “invisibility cloak” just yet. “It has been such a relief to feel anonymous,” she explains. “It’s like having a force field around me that says, ‘don’t see me.’” Becca, a 25-year-old bookstore employee near Chicago, reports that she and her co-workers “prefer not having customers see our faces,” because “[w]ith a mask, I don’t have to smile at them or worry about keeping a neutral face.” Bob, a 75-year-old retiree in New Jersey, says wearing a mask “frees” him from having to “appear happy.” Aimee, a 44-year-old screenwriter in Los Angeles, likes the “emotional freedom” that comes from wearing a mask: “It’s almost like taking away the male gaze.”
Ostensibly, the point of wearing masks is not to furnish oneself with an emotional crutch but to prevent viral transmission. Many Americans have been taught to believe that masks work—at least a little—and that wearing them comes at a minimal cost. Nearly the opposite is true. The best scientific evidence invites a far less rosy assessment of masks’ effectiveness than is broadcast by public health officials. And the dubious health benefits of widespread mask-wearing come at an enormous social cost, which is almost never acknowledged by those writing and enforcing the mandates.
Seeing and showing the face is a fundamental aspect of human existence. A society that forgets this straightforward truth will likely also fail to realize that faceless people may make for compliant subjects but not generally for good citizens. (We may distinguish those cases when masks are worn for special occasions—Halloween, Carnevale, classical Greek plays.) Nor will COVID-19 be the last time public health officials and governors demand we embrace mask-wearing. The question is whether Americans—and the legislators who most closely represent them—will realize the high costs of wearing masks before this new and noxious practice becomes ingrained in our culture.
In its worldwide impact, the COVID-19 pandemic has been the worst in a century. As a threat to Americans’ health, however, it is closer to the 1968 Hong Kong flu or the 1957 Asian flu—neither of which noticeably altered Americans’ everyday lives—than to the 1918 Spanish flu. In a head-to-head comparison, COVID-19 makes the Spanish flu look like the Black Death of medieval Europe. According to the best available figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and elsewhere, the typical American under the age of 40 in 1918 was more than 100 times as likely to die of the Spanish flu than the typical American under the age of 40 in 2020 was to die of COVID-19. Whereas COVID-19 sadly shortened the lives of many older people already in poor health, the Spanish flu took people in the prime of life and left orphans in its wake.
Americans’ reaction to COVID-19, however, has been radically different from their behavior in 1968, 1957, or even 1918. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, the Hoover Institution’s Niall Ferguson recalls that President Dwight Eisenhower asked Congress for $2.5 million in additional funding for the Public Health Service during the Asian flu. Overall, Congress has authorized about 2 million times that much for COVID-19. In 1957, there were no widespread school closures, travel bans, or mask mandates. Ferguson quotes one person’s recollection of those days: “For those who grew up in the 1930s and 1940s, there was nothing unusual about finding yourself threatened by contagious disease. Mumps, measles, chicken pox, and German measles swept through entire schools and towns; I had all four…. We took the Asian flu in stride.”
One major difference between then and now is the increased role of public health officials. Long before their ascension, Socrates made clear in Plato’s Republic that he did not want doctors to rule. Philosophers or even poets would be better governors of society, because they at least attempt to understand political and social life in its entirety and minister to the human soul. Doctors, by contrast, tend to disregard the soul: it is the nature of their art to focus on the body in lieu of higher concerns. Moreover, Greek philosophers and poets alike celebrated courage in the face of death—Plato’s Socrates and Homer’s Achilles were undeterred from their noble missions by fear of the grave. But rule by public health officials, under which we increasingly live today, encourages excessive risk-aversion and almost transforms cowardice into a virtue.
Wear the Mask, Neanderthal
Surgical masks were designed to protect patients’ wounds from becoming infected by medical personnel, not to prevent the spread of viruses. When COVID-19 hit our shores, the CDC initially recommended that most Americans not wear masks. On April 3, 2020, the CDC abruptly reversed this position. Surgeon General Jerome Adams explained that “new evidence” had revealed that “a significant portion of individuals with coronavirus lack symptoms” and “can transmit the virus to others before they show symptoms” (emphasis added).
As a rationale for wearing masks, this did not entirely make sense. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “potentially pre-symptomatic transmission…is a major driver of transmission for influenza.” Yet the CDC does not (yet) recommend that seemingly healthy people wear masks during flu season. It seems likely that the CDC panicked in April and wanted to be seen as doing something. Plus, public health officials are naturally enthusiastic about public health interventions. Here was an opportunity to introduce an intervention that would previously have been unthinkable to Americans. Granted, the research on masks’ effectiveness, or lack thereof, had not changed to suggest healthy people should wear masks. But why quibble about evidence in the interest of a good cause?
The day after the CDC endorsed nationwide mask-wearing, President Trump announced, “I won’t be doing it personally.” From that instant, the mask quickly became a symbol of civic virtue—a sort of Black Lives Matter flag that could be hung from one’s face. For many it conveyed a trio of virtues: I’m unselfish; I’m pro-science; I’m anti-Trump. What it also conveyed, incidentally, was rejection of longstanding Western norms, unhealthy risk-aversion, credulous willingness to embrace unsupported health claims, and a pallid view of human interaction.
The most reliable science on whether masks are effective in stopping the transmission of viruses comes from randomized control trials (RCTs), almost all of which were conducted before COVID-19 began. RCTs, in which researchers assign subjects randomly to different groups and study how those groups react to various forms of treatment, are the gold standard in medical research. They make it very hard for researchers to produce their own preferred outcomes. Observational studies, so called because researchers merely observe outcomes in pre-existing scenarios without being able to isolate one specific cause of those outcomes, are as much sociology as medical science. They introduce more bias and are far more apt to be politicized. Anyone doubting that researchers in the COVID-19 era have been more likely to benefit from generating pro-mask findings than anti-mask findings, might also be interested in some oceanfront property in Wuhan.
Randomized control trials have found little to no evidence that masks work to prevent viral transmission—either from the wearer to others or vice versa. In fact, some significant evidence from RCTs indicates that masks increase transmission. One team of researchers, led by Raina MacIntyre at the University of New South Wales, explained how masks could actually be counterproductive: “The virus may survive on the surface of the facemasks” and “transfer pathogen from the mask to the bare hands of the wearer.”
Forcing children to wear masks is particularly unreasonable. Minors are far less apt to spread the virus, and CDC statistics show that 99.9% of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. have been of adults. Few spectacles are more ridiculous than that of school kids, outside, playing sports, wearing masks. Moreover, the WHO guidance on mask-wearing for children is comical in its implausibility: “Before putting on the mask, children should clean their hands…at least 40 seconds if using soap and water…. Children should not touch the front of the mask [or] pull it under the chin…. After taking off their mask, they should store it in a bag or container and clean their hands.” Sure. Got that, kids?
A 2020 study by Professor Henning Bundgaard and his team in Denmark is the only RCT that has tested the effectiveness of mask-wearing against COVID-19. It found that 1.8% of those participants in the group wearing masks, and 2.1% of those in the unmasked control group, became infected with COVID-19 within a month. This difference was not statistically significant. The study must have had difficulty getting published, since it appeared months after it was conducted. Once it was eventually released, Vinay Prasad, a medical doctor at the University of California, San Francisco, described it as “well done” but noted (critically) that “[s]ome have turned to social media to ask why a trial that may diminish enthusiasm for masks…was published in a top medical journal.”
In attempting to justify its mask guidance on its website, the CDC has relied almost entirely on observational studies while studiously disregarding RCTs—aside from criticizing a couple of the more revealing ones, like Bundgaard’s, that do not support the agency’s guidance or goals. Anyone who thinks the CDC is an impartial, politically neutral agency, dedicated solely to the pursuit of scientific truth, should perhaps consider the recent e-mail evidence that the teachers union and Joe Biden’s White House effectively rewrote sections of the agency’s return-to-school guidance. Like so many unelected leaders, CDC officials consider themselves more accountable to “stakeholders” than to the American people. That is why the founders vested power to make policy decisions—of all sorts—in elected legislatures rather than in remote bureaucrats. Yet legislatures have largely been AWOL during the coronavirus period, while public health officials and executive branch leaders have reveled in their newfound powers.
What’s in a Face?
Even if masks did work, what should we sacrifice to wear them? In addition to being unattractive, masks are uncomfortable and make it harder to breathe. It is not uncommon to see a mask-wearer pull his or her mask out of the way just in time to cough or sneeze—which is understandable, since otherwise the mask effectively becomes a used handkerchief that remains affixed to one’s nose and mouth. Human beings were meant to feel the sun and wind on their faces, not a (potentially moist) piece of fabric. Even Muslim women’s veils are apparently more comfortable than masks. One York University professor told science writer Sandy Ong, “I find my face gets very hot when I wear a face mask, whereas with the niqab it generally doesn’t.”
But comfort is not the only reason masks and veils offend our sensibilities. Westerners, at their best, recognize that each individual human being is unique and has inherent value. Perhaps in part as an expression of this belief, we have always ensured the visibility of the face—the part of the body that principally gives expression to one’s thoughts and feelings. Other civilizations place less value on individual liberty and are also less committed to republicanism. Thus political philosopher Pierre Manent, addressing debates in France over the use of veils in Muslim communities, writes: “It is by the face that each of us reveals himself or herself at once as a human being and as this particular human being…. To present visibly one’s refusal to be seen is an ongoing aggression against human coexistence. Europeans have never concealed the face, except the executioner’s.”
When we look at our fellow human beings’ faces, we tend to process the whole face at once. Almost needless to say, a mask covering the lower two-thirds of the face greatly disrupts such processing—which is harmful to children, especially to babies. One wonders how much damage we have done to those born in 2020 by blocking our faces from them during their crucial first year of life. Stanford medical professor Jay Bhattacharya states that “the evidence is overwhelming that masking can harm children’s developmental progress.”
All of this helps to answer the blithe question so frequently posed by mask enthusiasts: what’s the big deal? It is a very big deal. Masks hide from view the familiar faces, infectious smiles, and warm glances that bring light and color to everyday life. To dismiss this loss so cavalierly is to devalue human warmth and sociability in a remarkably callous way. In his detailed study of emotions, Charles Darwin observed that human beings’ reliance on facial expressions is a key difference between us and animals. He wrote an entire book on the subject, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872). Communication, according to Darwin, was “of paramount importance to the development of man.” Human communication is “much aided by the expressive movements of the face and body,” and the face is “the chief seat of expression.” Darwin adds that we immediately perceive the importance of facial expressions “when we converse on an important subject with any person whose face is concealed.” It is worth noting that this is precisely why the mask appeals to its most devoted fans, like the ones quoted above from the Guardian: longing to wear masks means longing to hide from human social life.
The Face of Freedom
In sum, not only do masks apparently not work as advertised, they are uncomfortable and unhygienic. They obscure our humanity and undermine our children’s development. They prevent us from seeing the emotions, sensibilities, and affections of others, or sharing our own. They limit communication and erode understanding. They profoundly compromise human interaction and substantially reduce our quality of life.
Public health officials understand none of this. They pretend that mask-wearing is an action without a cost. Or perhaps, because they are neither trained nor inclined to look at the whole picture of human society, they are simply blind to these costs. Their guiding light is the avoidance of risk—narrowly defined as the risk of becoming sick or dying. The risk of stifling, enervating, or devitalizing human society is not even part of their calculation. Under their influence, America has been conducting an experiment in mask-wearing based largely on unsupported scientific claims and an impoverished understanding of human existence. It is an experiment we should not repeat.
FAQs
Are masks effective against the coronavirus disease?
Wearing a well-fitted mask along with vaccination, self-testing, and physical distancing, helps protect you and others by reducing the chance of spreading COVID-19.
Is it safe to wear a mask while exercising?
Yes, it’s safe to wear a mask while exercising. New research has shown that your heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, oxygen level and time of exhaustion are not significantly affected by wearing a mask during moderate to strenuous aerobic physical activity
Do I need to wear a mask after getting the COVID-19 vaccine?
After you are fully vaccinated for COVID-19, take these steps to protect yourself and others: In general, you do not need to wear a mask in outdoor settings. If you are in an area with high numbers of COVID-19 cases, consider wearing a mask in crowded outdoor settings and when you are in close contact with others who are not fully vaccinated
What type of mask has the most protection during COVID-19 pandemic?
Loosely woven cloth products provide the least protection, layered finely woven products offer more protection, well-fitting disposable surgical masks and KN95s offer even more protection, and well-fitting NIOSH-approved respirators (including N95s) offer the highest level of protection.
How effective are N95 masks against COVID-19?
N95 masks filter up to 95% of particles in the air when approved by NIOSH and proper fit can be achieved. People should be aware, though, that about 60% of KN95 masks in the United States are counterfeit and do not meet NIOSH standards.
How many times can a person get COVID-19?
Maybe you thought it was like chickenpox ? if youve had it once, youre immune forever, and you can put your worries away for good. Unfortunately, thats not the case. You can get COVID-19 more than once. Many times, in fact.
Is it safe to wear a mask while exercising during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Yes, it’s safe to wear a mask while exercising. New research has shown that your heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, oxygen level and time of exhaustion are not significantly affected by wearing a mask during moderate to strenuous aerobic physical activity
What precautionary measures should we follow while at the gym during the COVID-19 pandemic?
To protect yourself from catching COVID while at the gym, the World Health Organization and the CDC recommend following these tips: Don’t go to the gym if you’re sick. Limit indoor group classes, especially vigorous ones such as cycling, Zumba, and other high intensity programs.
Should I get the new COVID-19 Omicron booster?
People can receive the new vaccine at least two months after their primary vaccination series or their most recent booster with the older shots. Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House chief medical advisor, said the new boosters should provide better protection against omicron than the original vaccines.
Can someone who has been vaccinated for COVID spread the disease?
The vaccine is designed to stop the virus from making you sick. We don?t know yet if the vaccine will stop you from spreading the virus. We should continue to wear masks, social distance, and wash hands after we?ve been vaccinated. (source ? Vanderbilt University Medical Center) (1.19.20)
How effective are different material face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic?
They found that the effectiveness of the masks varied widely: a three-layer knitted cotton mask blocked an average of 26.5 percent of particles in the chamber, while a washed, two-layer woven nylon mask with a filter insert and metal nose bridge blocked 79 percent of particles on average.
How many days after COVID-19 symptoms are you contagious?
Those who do get infected with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 will likely remain infectious no longer than 10 days after symptoms begin. Individuals with severe-to-critical illness stemming from a COVID infection likely aren’t infectious 20 days after symptoms first began.
Are multilayer cloth masks more effective than single-layer ones for protecting from COVID-19?
In recent laboratory experiments, multilayer cloth masks were more effective than single-layer masks, blocking as much as 50% to 70% of exhaled small droplets and particles.
How long does COVID-19 survive on fabric?
A study published in found that at room temperature, COVID-19 was detectable on fabric for up to two days, compared to seven days for plastic and metal. However, when it was exposed to high heat, the virus became inactive within five minutes.
Can the coronavirus survive on surfaces?
It is not certain how long the virus that causes COVID-19 survives on surfaces, but it seems likely to behave like other coronaviruses. A recent review of the survival of human coronaviruses on surfaces found large variability, ranging from 2 hours to 9 days (11).
The survival time depends on a number of factors, including the type of surface, temperature, relative humidity and specific strain of the virus.
How long can COVID-19 linger in the air?
The smallest very fine droplets, and aerosol particles formed when these fine droplets rapidly dry, are small enough that they can remain suspended in the air for minutes to hours.
How long can COVID-19 survive out in the air and on other surfaces?
The scientists found that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was detectable in aerosols for up to three hours, up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to two to three days on plastic and stainless steel.
Can you get COVID-19 from touching infected surfaces?
It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their mouth, nose, or possibly eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.
How long can COVID-19 survive on surfaces?
Data from surface survival studies indicate that a 99% reduction in infectious SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses can be expected under typical indoor environmental conditions within 3 days (72 hours) on common non-porous surfaces like stainless steel, plastic, and glass .
Does COVID-19 live in the air?
Research shows that the virus can live in the air for up to 3 hours. It can get into your lungs if someone who has it breathes out and you breathe that air in.
The Masking of America – Claremont Review of Books
The Masking of America – Claremont Review of Books “We should never fully return to our maskless society where only health care providers donned a mask, because judicious use of masks will continue to save lives” (emphasis added). This is not the fringe statement of some obscure crank. It is the view of two doctors at New York’s Mount Sinai School of Medicine, one of the nation’s most prestigious medical schools, writing in a New York Daily News op-ed this spring. Now that the COVID-19 pandemic is retreating, it may seem absurd to propose further mask mandates in response to lesser—or even seasonal—viral threats. But Julia Carrie Wong, writing in the Guardian, reports that many Americans like their masks just fine. Francesca, a 46-year-old, fully vaccinated professor in New York, will not abandon her “invisibility cloak” just yet. “It has been such a relief to feel anonymous,” she explains. “It’s like having a force field around me that says, ‘don’t see me.’” Becca, a 25-year-old bookstore employee near Chicago, reports that she and her co-workers “prefer not having customers see our faces,” because “[w]ith a mask, I don’t have to smile at them or worry about keeping a neutral face.” Bob, a 75-year-old retiree in New Jersey, says wearing a mask “frees” him from having to “appear happy.” Aimee, a 44-year-old screenwriter in Los Angeles, likes the “emotional freedom” that comes from wearing a mask: “It’s almost like taking away the male gaze.” Ostensibly, the point of wearing masks is not to furnish oneself with an emotional crutch but to prevent viral transmission. Many Americans have been taught to believe that masks work—at least a little—and that wearing them comes at a minimal cost. Nearly the opposite is true. The best scientific evidence invites a far less rosy assessment of masks’ effectiveness than is broadcast by public health officials. And the dubious health benefits of widespread mask-wearing come at an enormous social cost, which is almost never acknowledged by those writing and enforcing the mandates. Seeing and showing the face is a fundamental aspect of human existence. A society that forgets this straightforward truth will likely also fail to realize that faceless people may make for compliant subjects but not generally for good citizens. (We may distinguish those cases when masks are worn for special occasions—Halloween, Carnevale, classical Greek plays.) Nor will COVID-19 be the last time public health officials and governors demand we embrace mask-wearing. The question is whether Americans—and the legislators who most closely represent them—will realize the high costs of wearing masks before this new and noxious practice becomes ingrained in our culture. In its worldwide impact, the COVID-19 pandemic has been the worst in a century. As a threat to Americans’ health, however, it is closer to the 1968 Hong Kong flu or the 1957 Asian flu—neither of which noticeably altered Americans’ everyday lives—than to the 1918 Spanish flu. In a head-to-head comparison, COVID-19 makes the Spanish flu look like the Black Death of medieval Europe. According to the best available figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and elsewhere, the typical American under the age of 40 in 1918 was more than 100 times as likely to die of the Spanish flu than the typical American under the age of 40 in 2020 was to die of COVID-19. Whereas COVID-19 sadly shortened the lives of many older people already in poor health, the Spanish flu took people in the prime of life and left…
Does Your State Have a Mask Mandate Due to Coronavirus?
Does Your State Have a Mask Mandate Due to Coronavirus? There are no longer any states requiring people generally to wear masks in public places. Several states still mandate masking for most people in certain high-risk settings, including health care and long-term care facilities. The federal government’s nationwide mask order for public transit, commercial flights and transportation hubs such as airports and train stations was struck down by a federal judge April 18. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has stopped enforcing the mandate and major U.S. airlines made face-covering optional on domestic flights. The Department of Justice said April 20 that it will appeal the ruling. Although the nationwide mask order is not in effect, on May 3 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reissued its recommendation that people ages 2 and older wear masks while on public transportation and at transportation hubs. Almost all of the cities and counties that extended or reimposed mask orders amid last summer’s delta variant surge and the emergence of the omicron variant in late 2021 have dropped those rules. The CDC revised its face-covering guidance in late February and now recommends indoor masking for all only in communities deemed to be at high risk for COVID-19 based on hospitalizations, local hospital capacity and new infections. (You can check your area’s risk level on the CDC’s website.) Over the course of the pandemic, 39 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia had orders broadly requiring people to wear masks in public. Eleven states have not imposed mandates at any point. Several states, including Florida, Iowa, Montana, Tennessee and Texas, have moved via legislation or executive action to prevent local governments and school districts from doing so. Where there are no state or local requirements, businesses and other private entities may set their own mask policies. Alabama Alabama’s mask mandate expired April 9, 2021. The state Department of Public Health recommends face-covering in public as part of its COVID-19 safety guidance. Municipal mask mandates in Birmingham and Montgomery expired in May 2021. Learn more: Read the Alabama health department’s COVID-19 prevention guidelines. Alaska Alaska’s Department of Health Social Services “strongly encourages the wearing of masks in public,” but the state has not required it. Juneau, the state capital, downgraded its indoor mask requirement to a recommendation Feb. 28. Learn more: Read the Alaska health department’s mask guidance. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey issued an executive order in March 2021 lifting all state COVID-19 restrictions on businesses and restricting local governments’ ability to impose and enforce face-covering orders. Ducey signed legislation April 25 that bars school districts and local governments from requiring anyone under age 18 to mask up without the consent of a parent or guardian. He also signed legislation May 20 that prohibits mask mandates in buildings run by state or local governments. Learn more: Read the Arizona Department of Health Services’ mask guidance. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson lifted his 8-month-old mask mandate March 31, 2021. Health officials continue to recommend that Arkansans wear masks in public when unable to maintain 6 feet of distance from people outside their households. A state law barring local governments from imposing mask orders, enacted in April, was struck down by an Arkansas judge Dec. 29. Learn more: Read the Arkansas health department’s mask guidance. California Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted California’s indoor mask mandate March 1. The state continues…
Coronavirus Masking in Public | American Medical Association
Coronavirus Masking in Public Search: Clear Search Public Health 1 MIN READ COVID-19 (2019 novel coronavirus) resource center for physicians The AMA is closely monitoring COVID-19 (2019 novel coronavirus) developments. Learn more with the AMA’s COVID-19 resource center. Public Health Aug 16, 2022 ·5 MIN READ Omicron and BA.5: Questions patients may have and how to answer With the rise of the highly contagious BA.5 Omicron subvariant, more questions arise among patients navigating pandemic fatigue. Learn more. Public Health Jul 13, 2022 ·4 MIN READ Recognize CDC’s expertise in protecting public from COVID-19 Physicians tell federal appellate court the CDC has the authority and knowledge to protect the public’s health during ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Public Health Jun 24, 2022 ·9 MIN READ What doctors wish patients knew about wearing N95 masks The CDC recommends N95 or KN95 masks in public indoor spaces to best protect against SARS-CoV-2. Two doctors share their tips on using these masks. HOD Organization 2 MIN READ 2022 Annual Meeting of the HOD: June 18 Speakers’ Update The June 18 HOD Speakers’ update reveals that some Annual Meeting attendees have tested positive for COVID-19 following the meeting. Public Health Jun 16, 2022 ·10 MIN READ Andrea Garcia, JD, MPH, on when the youngest kids can get vaccinated [Podcast] The AMA is leading the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Listen to podcast updates on how the AMA is fighting COVID-19 by discussing when the youngest kids can get vaccinated. Public Health Jun 16, 2022 ·10 MIN READ Andrea Garcia, JD, MPH, on when the youngest kids can get vaccinated The AMA is leading the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. See video updates on how the AMA is fighting COVID-19 by discussing when the youngest kids can get vaccinated. HOD Organization 2 MIN READ 2022 Annual Meeting of the HOD: June 7 Speakers’ Update Read the June 7 HOD speakers’ update that details available preliminary reports, where to get N95 masks, and Zoom links for the meeting. Load More Subscribe to the AMA Update podcast Get your health care news from physicians, scientists and other leading voices in medicine. It’s the information you need from voices you want to hear. Subscribe Now A time to stand together With expert resources and tireless advocacy, the AMA is your powerful ally against COVID-19. Join Us
Face Masks and Other Prevention Strategies
Face Masks and Other Prevention Strategies The AAP strongly endorses the use of safe and effective infection control measures to protect children and adolescents. COVID-19 vaccination, ventilation, physical distancing, testing and use of a well-fitting and comfortable face mask or respirator are all part of a comprehensive strategy to mitigate risk and help reduce the spread of COVID-19. The AAP strongly recommends that all individuals over the age of 6 months receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Additional layered prevention strategies may also be important depending on individual and community level risk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has refined its guidance on COVID-19 protection and risk mitigation to include a measure of the impact of COVID-19 on health and health care systems, in addition to measures of community level cases. Face masks can be safely worn by all children 2 years of age and older, including the vast majority of children with underlying health conditions, with rare exception. In addition to protecting the child, the use of face masks significantly reduces the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory infections within schools and other community settings. Home use of face masks may be particularly valuable in households that include members who are in quarantine or isolation, as well as adults and children who have medically complex conditions or are immunocompromised or at increased risk for severe disease. High-quality, well-fitting, and comfortable face masks or respirators should be worn by all individuals who are 2 years of age and older when the community level risk is considered “high.” Well-fitting face masks should be worn in accordance with CDC quarantine and isolation guidelines for those who have a SARS-CoV-2 positive test or were exposed to COVID-19. Certain segments of the pediatric population remain vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and continued use of high-quality, well-fitting face masks in public settings may be warranted for these children and the individuals around them: Children and adolescents who are not up to date on COVID-19 vaccine, recognizing that masks are not recommended for children
Masks For America: Protect our Frontline Heroes
Masks For America: Protect our Frontline HeroesThe Problem We’re FacingDoctors, nurses, and other medical workers across the U.S. and Puerto Rico are being forced to ration N95 masks or turn to inadequate bandanas, paper, and cloth masks — leaving them vulnerable to infection as they interact with COVID-19 patients. Health care workers fighting to save others’ lives continue to lose their own. Essential workers making life sustainable for everyone else are often not being provided proper PPE at all, forcing them to choose between their safety and their income are dying.And our most marginalized communities continue to get sick and die from COVID-19 at the greatest rates by a wide margin, and have the most limited access to the PPE needed to stay safe.HOW WE’RE WORKING TO SOLVE ITWithin two weeks of our launch in March, we’d funded, received, and delivered 19,000 masks. Within a month, we’d distributed nearly 100,000 masks across five states. Thanks to thousands of small-dollar donors, we have now delivered over 750,000 pieces of PPE.We are run entirely by volunteers, and with no red tape or overhead, we’re able to be extremely efficient at turning money into masks, goggles, and other PPE. Every dollar donated goes to getting PPE to health care facilities, workers’ unions, and community groups that need them.Donations are tax-deductible.
CDC: Masks are now optional for 90% of the country
CDC: Masks are now optional for 90% of the country | AHA News The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday said more than 90% of the U.S. population now lives in a county with a low or medium COVID-19 Community Level, a new CDC measure for communities considering whether to require face coverings in public indoor settings. The agency plans to update the county data every Thursday going forward. CDC last week revised its federal masking guidance for the COVID-19 public health emergency, including changes to the metrics for determining whether to require face coverings in indoor settings. Hospitals and other health care settings are not subject to these masking recommendations, meaning regardless of a community’s status under the new metrics, local health care settings should continue to require visitors to wear masks indoors. Related News Articles The Food and Drug Administration yesterday advised people who get a negative result from an at-home COVID-19 antigen test to test themselves again after… The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today released updated guidance to help people protect themselves and others if they are exposed to, sick or… The Food and Drug Administration today granted full approval of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for young teens, covering the age group spanning 12 to 15 years old.… The Food and Drug Administration today authorized state-licensed pharmacists to prescribe Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir) to patients as a treatment… Understanding potential costs is an important part of the patient experience when planning for care, and hospitals and health systems are committed to helping… An initial 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine are available for children under age 5 if the Food and Drug Administration authorizes and the Centers for…
Majority of Americans support mask mandates for travel, AP …
Majority of Americans support mask mandates for travel, AP-NORC poll finds FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A majority of Americans continue to support a mask requirement for people traveling on airplanes and other shared transportation, a new poll finds. A ruling by a federal judge has put the government’s transportation mask mandate on hold. WATCH: A judge struck down the travel mask mandate. Here’s what that means for you The poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that despite opposition to that requirement that included verbal abuse and physical violence against flight attendants, 56 percent of Americans favor requiring people on planes, trains and public transportation to wear masks, compared with 24 percent opposed and 20 percent who say they’re neither in favor nor opposed. Interviews for the poll were conducted Thursday to Monday, shortly before a federal judge in Florida struck down the national mask mandate on airplanes and mass transit. Airlines and airports immediately scrapped their requirements that passengers wear face coverings. The Transportation Security Administration stopped enforcing the mask requirement, and the Justice Department announced on Tuesday that it will not appeal the ruling unless the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determines it’s still necessary. The poll shows a wide partisan divide on the issue. Among Democrats, 80 percent favor and just 5 percent oppose the requirement. Among Republicans, 45 percent are opposed compared with 33 percent in favor, with 22 percent saying neither. Vicki Pettus, who recently moved from Frankfort, Kentucky, to Clearwater, Florida, to be near her grandchildren, said she enjoys the view of Old Tampa Bay but doesn’t like the “very lackadaisical attitude” by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, about masking. She said she will continue to wear her mask to protect against the coronavirus, including around her 55-and-older home community and on the plane when she travels to Kentucky in a few weeks. “Especially in a plane where that air is recirculating,” said Pettus, 71, an independent who leans toward the Democratic Party. “I think people are really dumb not to wear their mask. But, hey, that’s their decision, and if they want to get sick that’s fine. I’m not going to.” But Kriste Lee, who works in sales in South Florida, can’t wait to fly mask-free the next time she travels next month. “I really wish I was on a plane when they made that announcement,” said Lee, 47. “I would have been dancing up and down the aisle.” The continued support among Americans overall for mandating masks on transportation comes even as worries about COVID-19 are among their lowest points of the past two years. Just 20 percent now say they’re very or extremely worried that they or a family member will be infected. That’s down slightly since 25 percent said the same just a month ago and from 36 percent in December and January as the omicron variant was raging. Another 33 percent now say they are somewhat worried, while 48 percent say they’re not worried at all. Count Betty Harp, of Leitchfield, Kentucky, as among the “very worried” and not because she’s turning 84 next month. She said she takes care of her large house and yard by herself, does a lot of canning and is in “fantastic health for my age.” But she’s lost a lot of friends and family to the virus, which has killed nearly 1 million people in the United States. “I know COVID is still here. It’s still around,” said Harp, who described herself as a Republican-leaning independent. “I think we should all be wearing masks for a little while longer.” In another AP-NORC poll conducted last month, 44 percent of Americans still said they were often or always wearing face masks outside their homes, though that was down significantly from 65 percent who said that at the beginning of the…
Face Masks for Children During COVID-19
Face Masks for Children During COVID-19Masks remain a simple but powerful tool to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. They are especially important for children who are too young for the vaccine. Read on for answers to some frequently asked questions about masks, children and COVID-19.Masks work even when others don’t wear themA well-fitting high quality face mask reduces the chance of contracting COVID-19, as well as spreading COVID-19 infection to others. Face masks should not be worn by children if they are under 2 years old. Face masks are strongly encouraged for: Vaccinated and unvaccinated people age 2 years and older in areas of the country with high transmission of COVID-19. Children who are ineligible for COVID vaccination. People with weakened immune systems who may not have mounted a full immune response to the vaccine and are at high risk if they get sick.People who want to protect their family members at risk. If you have a medically fragile child or an at-risk adult in your household, you may want to consider having anyone at home who is not fully vaccinated wear masks at home to help protect them.Children and youth with special health care needs who may be vaccinated but still are at higher risk if they get sick.Children and teens who lack immunity to the virus despite vaccination or prior infection.It’s also recommended to wear a face mask inside your home if someone you live with is sick with symptoms of COVID-19 or has tested positive.Infants and children under 2 years old are too young for the vaccine and too young to wear face masks. To protect them, people who have close contact with infants and young children should wear face masks.Why wear masks at daycare, preschool or school? Well-fitting face masks worn by everyone 2 years old and older and adults, including child care teachers, regardless of vaccination status protects them as well as others—especially if they are not vaccinated.In K-12 schools, students, teachers, staff and visitors should be supported if they continue wearing masks. The same is true for anyone who continues wearing masks for sports. My child just turned 2. How do I help them get used to wearing a mask?Face masks have been around for a couple of years, but mask wearing is still new to a child who is turning 2. Here are a few ideas that might help make your child more comfortable when they are getting used to wearing a mask:Look in the mirror with the face mask on and talk about it.Put a mask on a favorite stuffed animal.Decorate them so they’re more personalized and fun.Show your child pictures of other children wearing them.Draw one on their favorite book character.Practice wearing the face mask at home to help your child get used to it.It may be challenging for very young children not to fidget with their face mask. Expect to give your child plenty of gentle reminders not to touch their face mask. When mask-wearing is reinforced by adults and peers, they will learn to follow directions. Just like children understand that they must wear bicycle helmets and buckle into their car seats, they will learn to wear masks correctly and routinely when needed.How can I explain to my child why they still need a mask at daycare? For children under 3, it’s best to answer their questions simply in language they understand. If they ask about why people are wearing face masks, explain that sometimes people need to wear them to stay healthy. For children over 3, try focusing on germs. Explain that germs are special to your own body. Some germs and good and some are bad. The bad…