Eleven months after the COVID-19 crisis, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines and findings on wearing a properly fitting mask to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Santa Barbara Health Department officials last week reminded residents to wear the correct mask during the ongoing pandemic.
“If you’re wearing a mask, don’t forget to wear it properly,” said Van Do-Reynoso, the province’s director of public health. “Wear it when you are indoors or when you are around others.”
Masks should be worn next to standing at least two feet apart and hand wash 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 a face cover when outdoors, as are people with a “medical condition, mental health condition, or disability that prevents wearing a face cover,” state Department of Public Health officials say.
According to public health officials, wearing a mask remains a critical tool in slowing the spread of COVID-19.
“Masks are hugely important, and they won’t go away even if half the population is vaccinated,” said Dr. Henning Ansorg, the province’s public health officer, recently in an interview with Noozhawk editor-in-chief Giana Magnoli.
“Schools are only safe if masks are worn and social distance is maintained as much as possible, and then they are quite safe.”
Ansorg said a mask is arguably the most important health tool in the fight.
Last week, the CDC gave several tips to improve the mask’s defense against getting and spreading the coronavirus.
A sign outside Tino’s Italian Grocery, at 210 W. Carrillo St. Santa Barbara, warns shoppers that masks are required for entry. (Brooke Holland / Noozhawk photo)
“Masks work best when everyone is wearing them, but not all masks offer the same protection,” the agency said.
The CDC stressed making sure a mask “fits snugly” over your nose, mouth, and chin. It suggests wearing a mask with a nose wire or metal strip along the top of the mask as this will prevent air from leaking from the top.
Another recommendation is to use a mask fitter or brace over a disposable or cloth mask to prevent air from leaking around the edges.
“If the mask fits properly, you will feel warm air coming through the front of the mask and you can see the mask material moving in and out with each breath,” the CDC said.
Public health officials recommended adding at least two layers of material for some masks, which will prevent more respiratory droplets from entering or escaping from a mask. Wearing one face mask over another involves a disposable mask under a cloth mask or wearing a multi-layer cloth mask, 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 placed over each other and only one KN95 mask should be used at a time.
“Disposable masks are not designed to fit tightly, and wearing more than one mask does not improve the fit,” said the CDC, adding that people should not double mask a KN95 mask with another mask.
During the province’s weekly newsletter on Friday, Ansorg spoke about different options for masks.
He said an N95 mask, also known as an N95 gas mask, is designed for health professionals. It is tailored because the masks come in a variety of sizes, he added.
In the first months of the crisis, there was a shortage of N95 respirators and other personal protective equipment, even in healthcare.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, we had to ask everyone not to buy them because there was an international shortage, which has since been resolved,” Ansorg said.
“These masks are on sale now, but keep in mind that they have to fit very snugly over the nose with a tight seal so that there are no air leaks to provide optimal protection for the person wearing them.”
Procedural masks, also called surgical masks, which are usually white-blue or white, have a metal strip over the nose for a better fit, and they usually don’t slip like looser cloth masks.
“They are designed to protect my environment from the wearers’ respiratory drops,” said Ansorg. “As a surgeon you don’t want to contaminate the operating area, for example.”
He continued, gesturing to his own mask, “This is good for protecting my environment from my own respiratory droplets, but the protection it gives me from other virus carriers depends on how tightly this thing fits.”
People often place a cloth mask on top of a procedural mask to get a tighter fit.
“I’ll leave that to you,” said Ansorg. “Sometimes it can make it useful. Some people have been able to double up on two of those masks and thus get a tighter fit around the nose, cheeks and chin. “
The CDC recommended tying ear loops from a medical procedure mask to make it fit your face tighter. Take your mask and fold it edge to edge (in half), then tie the two ear loops of the mask, and tuck and flatten the extra fabric under the edges.
These steps improve the mask’s filtration by up to 20 percent, 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 urged people to wear masks when around others.
According to the CDC, masks are now mandatory for travelers on public transport. According to the edict, “people must wear masks that completely cover both the mouth and nose while waiting for, boarding, disembarking, or traveling on planes, ships, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis, and carpoolers while going to travel within or outside of the United States and US territories. “
In California, wearing a mask is statewide, and people are required to wear a face cover or mask outside of their homes, with limited exceptions. Click here for more information.
According to the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations, surveys showed that about 75 percent of Californians were always wearing masks in public in August 2020, and that figure has since risen to about 81 percent.
When asked by Noozhawk how to properly dispose of a used mask, Ansorg replied, “It all depends on where you are.”
To take off a procedural mask, Ansorg only grabbed it by the ear loops and stretched the ear loops.
“If you are at work or in a restaurant, I would recommend taking off the mask without touching the actual face, otherwise you will contaminate your hands,” he said. “Or if you put it down, you dirty the surface.
“When you get in your car on your own and take off your mask – that’s not such an important factor.”
He also emphasized mask hygiene.
“We want to avoid over-touching the mask because some secretions, especially if you wear it for an hour longer, seep through the material and there may be a little bit of moisture on the outside,” said Ansorg. “And that can be contagious.”
Fabric masks should be washed “often, at least once a day,” he said.
Click here for the CDC guide to masks.
– Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at . (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk @Newsurvey and @BuienRadarNLConnect with Noozhawk on Facebook.