COVID-19 mask recommendations open new chapter in coverage | Coronavirus crisis

Eleven months after the start of the COVID-19 crisis, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines and findings on wearing a properly fitted mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Santa Barbara County Public Health officials last week reminded residents to wear appropriate masks amid the ongoing pandemic.

“When you wear a mask, remember to wear it correctly,” County Public Health Director Van Do-Reynoso said on Friday. “Wear it when you are indoors or when you are around others.”

Masks should be worn in addition to standing at least six feet apart and washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, according to the CDC.

In California, children under the age of 2 are exempt from wearing headgear when they are outside their home, as are those with “a medical condition, mental health condition or disability that” prevents wearing a face mask, ”state public health officials say.

Wearing a mask remains an essential tool in slowing the spread of COVID-19, according to public health officials.

“Masks are extremely important and they won’t go away even with immunizing half the population,” County Public Health Officer Dr Henning Ansorg recently said in an interview with the editor of Noozhawk, Giana Magnoli.

“Schools are only safe when masks are worn and social distancing is maintained as much as possible, and then they are very safe.”

Ansorg said that a mask is perhaps the most important health tool in combat.

Last week, the CDC provided several tips to improve the mask’s defense against the attack and spread of the coronavirus.

“Masks work best when everyone is wearing them, but not all masks offer the same protection,” the agency said.

The CDC insisted on ensuring a “snug fitting” mask over your nose, mouth, and chin. He suggests wearing a mask with a nasal thread, or a metal strip along the top of the mask, as this prevents air from escaping through the top.

Another recommendation is to use a mask adjuster or splint on a disposable or fabric mask to prevent air from leaking around the edges.

“If the mask is properly fitted, you will feel hot air pass through the front of the mask and may be able to see the mask material in and out with each breath,” the CDC said.

Public health officials have advised adding at least two layers of material for some masks, which prevents more respiratory droplets from entering inside a mask or escaping from a mask. Wearing one facemask on top of the other includes a disposable mask under a fabric mask or wearing a fabric mask with multiple layers of fabric, according to the CDC.

“Make sure you can see and breathe easily,” the CDC advised.

According to the CDC, two disposable masks should not be stacked and only one KN95 mask should be used at a time.

“Disposable masks are not designed to be a good fit, and wearing more than one will not improve the fit,” the CDC said, adding that people should not cover a KN95 mask with another mask.

At the county’s weekly press briefing on Friday, Ansorg spoke about the different mask options.

He said an N95 mask, also known as an N95 respirator, is designed for healthcare workers. It is adjusted because the masks come in several sizes, he added.

In the early months of the crisis, N95 respirators and other personal protective equipment were scarce, even in health care settings.

“At the start of the pandemic, we had to ask everyone to refrain from trying to buy them because there was an international shortage, which has since resolved,” Ansorg said.

“These masks are now available for purchase, but be aware that they must fit snugly on the nose with a good seal so that there is no air leakage to provide optimal protection for the person who wear them. “

Procedural masks, also known as surgical masks, which are typically white-blue or white, have a metal strip across the nose for a better fit, and they generally don’t slip off like looser fabric masks.

“They were designed to protect my environment from respiratory droplets from carriers,” Ansorg said. “For example, as a surgeon, you don’t want to contaminate the operating area.”

He went on to point to his own mask, “It’s good to protect my surroundings from my own respiratory droplets, however, the protection it gives me against other virus carriers depends on how this thing adapts.

People often place a cloth mask over a procedural mask to achieve a tighter fit.

“I’ll leave that to you,” Ansorg says. “Sometimes it can be helpful. Some people have been able to double up two of these masks and as a result get a tighter fit around the nose, cheeks, and chin.

The CDC has recommended tying the earrings of a medical procedure mask to make it tighter on your face. Take your mask and fold it edge to edge (in half), then tie the two mask earring pieces, and tuck in and flatten the extra fabric under the edges.

These steps improve mask filtration by up to 20%, said Emily Sickbert-Bennett, director of infection prevention at UNC hospitals in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in a YouTube video explaining the recommendation.

(UNC Health video)

The CDC has urged people to wear masks whenever they are with other people.

Masks are now mandatory for travelers on public transport, according to the CDC. Under the edict, “people must wear masks that completely cover their mouths and noses while waiting, boarding, disembarking or traveling on planes, boats, ferries, trains, subways. , buses, taxis and carpooling when traveling in or out of the United States and United States territories. “

In California, wearing a mask is mandatory statewide, and people are required to wear a mask or face mask when outside their home, with a few exceptions. Click here for more information.

According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations at the University of Washington, surveys have shown that about 75% of Californians still wear masks in public as of August 2020, and that figure has since risen to around 81%.

Asked by Noozhawk how to properly remove a used mask, Ansorg replied, “It all depends on where you are.”

To remove a procedural mask, Ansorg manipulated it only by the earrings and he stretched the earrings.

“If you are at work or in a restaurant, I would recommend removing the mask without touching the facial area because otherwise you contaminate your hands,” he said. “Or when you put it down, you contaminate the surface.

“When you get into your car alone and take your mask off, it’s not that big a factor.”

He also placed emphasis on the hygiene of the masks.

“We want to avoid touching the mask too much because some secretions, especially when you wear it for an hour longer at a time, will seep through the material and there will potentially be some moisture in it. outside, ”Ansorg said. “And it could be contagious.”

Sheet masks should be washed “frequently at least once a day,” he said.

Click here for the CDC Mask Guide.

– Brooke Holland, editor of Noozhawk, can be reached at (JavaScript must be enabled to display this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.