Chaplinskas gave an example of why masks should not be abandoned: they should be used everywhere, even vaccinated.

Do we really still need them? Why should even vaccinated people use them? Professor Saulius Čaplinskas, a specialist in communicable diseases, answered these questions.

According to the interviewee, even without research, it is clear that protective barrier measures reduce the entry of infection into the human body.

“Just as the use of condoms can greatly reduce the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. If we use a medical mask that has filtering properties, we will also reduce the risk of infections entering the human body ”, explained the professor.

According to him, at the beginning of the pandemic, due to the effectiveness of the masks, only laboratory studies were conducted that mathematically modeled how the mask stops the spread of the virus. But now more and more real-life investigations are emerging.

One of them took place in Bangladesh and was published in early September this year. This study evaluated the effectiveness of distance compliance and the use of masks in reducing the spread of SARS-Cov-2.

The study in Bangladesh involved 600 cities and towns, more than 340,000 people.

“They were divided into two groups. Some were constantly reminded for 8 weeks to keep their distance and wear masks, they shared them. They did nothing and did not say anything to the others, “Prof. S. Čaplinskas said. Wearing of masks after constant reminders in the first group increased by about 30 percent.

The people were then screened to see if they had any symptoms of a coronavirus, a positive test, or antibodies. Wearing masks and keeping one’s distance reduced the number of infections by 9.3 percent.

However, the masks are believed to have an even greater effect, as the study only recorded cases where a person already had symptoms of infection or antibodies. Furthermore, if the masks had been used more effectively, the spread of the virus would have been even less.

“I think this should basically end any scientific debate about whether masks can be effective in fighting coronavirus at the population level,” Yale economist Jason Abaluck, who led the study, told The Washington Post.

The most important thing in schools: masks and ventilation.

Teacher. S. Čaplinskas recalled that the virus spreads through large droplets and aerosols. Therefore, if masks are used where there is a risk, the chance of infection will be much lower.

“Mathematical modeling done in the US shows that two tools work more effectively in schools: wearing masks and testing students. Room ventilation is also very important. Americans emphasize the importance of air purification during the cold season. Now you are not going to change all the central systems so fast, you can do it next school year, but now you can invest in smaller air purification systems in the classroom “, advised the interlocutor.

The teacher emphasized that children should go to educational institutions, and distance education can only be short-term when an outbreak of infection occurs. The greatest danger is in the canteen, during breaks, when many people gather in a closed room and everyone is without masks. It would be extremely beneficial to have air purification systems in those locations.

It is also very important to assess the risks of older workers in schools – they should definitely wear masks.

“So the most important thing when it comes to schools is the masks, the tests and the ventilation. And it goes without saying that children who are already vaccinated should.

However, based on how badly people wear masks in public institutions, it is not difficult to assume that a person who goes to the bathroom will not wear those masks. And here it can be very risky: there you can no longer meet a person, but there can be a lot of viruses in the air. If a person does not understand why and how to wear a mask, it will be used only because someone ordered it. The key word is the mask that is used correctly ”, said prof. S. Čaplinskas.

Vaccinated people should also wear masks.

According to the professor, individuals should wear and vaccinate masks without any dispute.

“I don’t understand which expert told this esteemed prime minister the idea that a person with a passport of opportunity cannot wear a medical mask.” Such an expert misled our prime minister. It has long been shown that a vaccinated person, if exposed to a high dose of the delta strain, can not only become infected, but can release the virus into the environment during the first 5 days. The only difference is that the immune system then rapidly neutralizes the virus and its concentration in the vaccinated person drops rapidly, ”said the professor.

As a result, such a person is unlikely to become ill or mildly ill, and will become infected for a shorter period of time. This is another argument, according to the interlocutor, why more vaccinated people should be needed as soon as possible. On the other hand, anyone who is at high risk should wear masks. These are indoors where there are large concentrations of people.

Teacher. According to S. Čaplinskas, now we can no longer speak only of hardening and control of life, because in this way we are even more opposed to society.

“We must learn to live in a new reality, not to think about how to return to a previous life. Until now, the virus is and will be among us, it will not disappear anywhere, we have to learn to live with it so that it becomes less angry and less pathogenic as soon as possible ”, said the interlocutor.

The professor explains why we should now wear masks even more responsibly than before: if a person infected with the Wuhan strain infected an average of 2 people, now one infects 5 or even 7. The Wuhan virus strain it took several minutes to inhale from the infection. to occur. Now just a few seconds are enough.

“It just came to our attention then. It is enough to inhale 10 times fewer virus particles for us to become infected. We have to learn to manage it, but stopping life so that there are no events would be a mistake. Only this should be done with maximum safety.

The mask is a barrier that helps prevent infection and, if a person is sick, the mask reduces the release of the virus into the environment. It is possible to recall once again that one in three people may not have any symptoms: they will unknowingly burn out and spread the virus on average in about 10 days. For this reason, the use of masks indoors, especially during the cold season, is very important ”, said the interlocutor.