With the coronavirus spreading faster than ever in the U.S., two new studies are providing more evidence that universal masking is an effective tool to help slow the spread of the virus. The new investigation comes just as Walmart, the country’s largest retailer, said it will require all customers to wear a mask.
This week, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that if everyone in the United States wore a mask, washed their hands frequently, and practiced social distancing, the spread of the virus would be under control in one or two. months.
“Cloth face liners are one of the most powerful weapons we have to slow and stop the spread of the virus, particularly when used universally in a community setting,” Dr. Robert Redfield said in a statement. “All Americans have a responsibility to protect themselves, their families, and their communities.”
Saskia Popescu, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Arizona, said the CDC statement shows that the United States needs to come together to make a collective effort at masking.
“Now is the time for us to work together, and universal masking is one of those efforts that can have a huge impact,” Popescu wrote in an email.
Two new real-world studies showed how effective facial coatings are in slowing down the spread of the coronavirus.
In the first, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston monitored how wearing a mask affected transmission rates of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, among hospital health care workers.
The researchers tracked infection rates among staff before and after the mask’s mandate.
Before masking, the positivity rate of the tests increased exponentially at a rate of 1.16 percent per day. After masks were required, the positivity rate among health care workers began to slowly decrease at a rate of 0.49 percent per day.
“It’s almost a masking stress test, and it showed that masking is effective in terms of reducing COVID infection,” said Dr. Deepak Bhatt, lead author of the study and professor at Harvard Medical School and executive director. of interventional cardiovascular intervention. programs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Bhatt hopes the research will help ease political resistance to wearing a mask.
“What we are doing here is getting some science out,” said Bhatt. “This is not politics. This does not blame anyone. We are not trying to guess what has already happened, but to allow us all to move forward together and support the masking.”
A separate report released by the CDC on Wednesday found that the virus-protected masks spread to a salon in Springfield, Missouri.
Two stylists in the salon developed respiratory symptoms but continued to work until they received positive results for the coronavirus.
Between the two stylists, 139 clients had been potentially exposed between the time the stylists developed symptoms when they received the test results. Both stylists and their clients wore facial covers while they were in the salon.
Through contact search efforts, local officials found no symptomatic cases reported from exposure to stylists. In addition, 67 of the clients who were exposed were evaluated and all were negative.
“This is a beautiful experiment; I couldn’t have designed a better one to show that the masks work, “Dr. Carlos del Rio, an infectious disease specialist and president of Emory University’s global health department, told NBC News.
According to Del Rio, a limitation of the study was that not all clients underwent testing, leaving the possibility of asymptomatic infections. Recent CDC estimates say that up to 40 percent of infections can be asymptomatic.
“Ideally, you would have liked to test everyone,” said Del Rio. “But the reality is that it shows very well that the masks work.”
Beauty salons remain open in Texas, Arizona and Florida, where cases are increasing and ICU bed capacity is decreasing.
Popescu, who resides in Arizona and is seeing the devastating effects of the epidemic on his state, has seen an increase in mask use and attributes this to recent media attention and mask mandates in many states and communities.
“Now is the time for us to unite around public health efforts, help reduce pressure on health workers and hospitals, and keep ourselves and our loved ones safe,” he said.
