Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has become a target for people who irrationally blame Covid and the fallout from the virus on him as the bearer of news that they do not want to hear. In his defense, Dr. Fauci is not banning Thanksgiving. He is just warning that gatherings of people at events like this can turn into tragic super spreaders of the virus. Read the full artlcle for specifics on how to function safely in indoor environments. Here are some excerpts:
“Officials have been able to control COVID-19 transmission rates by implementing policies that encourage residents to eat and drink, exercise and spend time with friends and loved ones at a safe distance outside.
“But health experts are concerned cases could spike again as cooler temperatures in the fall and winter force people back indoors.
“The nation's leading infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, also is concerned upcoming holiday celebrations could increase transmission rates and advised Americans to skip any big Thanksgiving plans.
“Speaking to 'CBS Evening News' Wednesday, Fauci cautioned against 'gathering together in an indoor setting' with large groups of out-of-town guests. 'It is unfortunate because that’s such a sacred part of American tradition – the family gathering around Thanksgiving,' he said. 'But that is a risk.'“
The article goes on to explain how improving ventilation indoors, prevents transmission of the virus:
“Dr. Lewis Nelson, professor and chair of emergency medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, said one of the main reasons there’s a higher risk of transmission indoors than outdoors is lack of ventilation.
“'Natural air currents outside disperse virus particles more quickly and effectively than inside. There’s minimal to no air circulation indoors, allowing virus particles to linger in the air or fall on high-touch surfaces.'…
[See more on this subject: "Ventilation and air filtration play a key role in preventing the spread of COVID-19 indoors" by Ramon Padilla, USA TODAY, 10/19/20]
The article also encourages the continued use of masks and social distancing and emphasizes keeping an eye on community transmission rates:
“Although mask-wearing, social distancing, hand hygiene and increased airflow can reduce the risk of transmission indoors, these mitigation efforts aren't 100% effective, especially if community transmission rates are high.
“Barry Bloom, research professor of public health and former dean of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, recommends residents keep an eye on transmission rates in their area to determine if it’s safe to go to an indoor public setting.”
In general, the recommendations for preventing spread of the virus remain the same, whether indoors or outside in public spaces and for the same reasons. The Covid-19 virus is very contagious and is spread from one person to another, mostly through the air in droplets and aerosols that contain the virus. The droplets and aerosols are expelled by a contagious person during breathing, talking, singing, exercising, and other activities.
The likelihood of contracting the virus increases with the amount of virus one is exposed to over time. Without a cure for the disease or the availability of vaccines, preventing the spread of the virus relies on some standard public health measures such as quarantining people who are known to be infected, wearing masks, physical distancing, and improving ventilation to lower the concentration of the virus to safer levels. Frequent hand-washing takes care of virus that may be picked up from contaminated surfaces and transferred to ones nose, mouth, or eyes.
From what I understand, when the virus lodges deep in the lungs, it replicates and spreads infection to the rest of the body. An infected person may have no symptoms at all or their symptoms may be catastrophic. Short of death, survivors of the virus can have severe damage to organs and in some people it appears to be a chronic disease, but it is too soon to know exactly what the long term effects are from contracting the virus.
Masks have been as much maligned as Dr. Fauci. Depending on the mask, even a homemade two-layered cloth mask is a good barrier to spreading the virus. It does not filter out separate virus particles, but it does prevent the transmission of droplets, which is where the virus lurks in most instances. The primary purpose of wearing a mask is to protect others if you happen to be contagious and don’t know it. It may also help the wearer of the mask by stopping droplets from a contagious person, but this is not the primary purpose for wearing a mask.
While masks are not recommended for very young children or for people like my disabled sons who cannot remove the mask themselves, they can be worn safely by most people. My boys have worn masks to medical appointments, but they are always with a caregiver who would recognize if a mask was causing them distress.
Contrary to reports from people opposing mask mandates, masks have not been found to lower oxygen levels or raise CO2 levels. See “Fact check: Experts say face masks don't cause oxygen deprivation, neurological damage” by Devan Patel, USATODAY, 10/17/20:
“‘While masks can block particles like respiratory droplets and aerosols that might contain coronavirus, they do not block gases like oxygen and carbon dioxide,’ said Linsey Marr, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech and an expert in airborne disease transmission. ‘A recent study of people wearing surgical masks while walking around found no significant changes in carbon dioxide in their breath nor oxygen in their blood, compared to walking without a mask.’”
The article concludes,
“Though the neurological damage described can occur when there is oxygen deprivation, medical experts say there is no evidence linking either to wearing masks.
“Medical studies have shown a link between COVID-19 and those very neurological effects, meaning the decision to not to wear a mask puts people at a higher risk of experiencing them.”
So what are the arguments against wearing a mask? This is a YouTube video of citizen anti-mask activists from Palm Beach County, Florida, on June 26, 2020. I find their arguments bizarre and not helpful in getting to any understanding of why mask wearing may be harmful or unwarranted, other than they just don't like being told what to do: Mask wearing is "against God’s will”, they say, and it is “practicing the devil’s law”; requiring masks is a crime against humanity; social distancing trains us up to follow military protocol; it’s all Bill Gates’ fault and 5G has something to do with it; and surely satanism, pedophilia, and death will follow mandates for the wearing of masks.
Wearing a mask in public spaces to prevent the spread of a contagious virus does not infringe on anyone’s liberty any more than following laws that require us to stop at red lights or to wear shoes in restaurants. It is in fact an easy and inexpensive way to slow the spread to get the virus under control so that the economy can recover. This happened in Arizona when the state took measures to stop the spread of the virus:
"COVID-19 cases in Arizona dropped 75% after mask mandates began, report says" by Stephanie Innes, Arizona Republic,10/9/20.
I don’t like wearing a mask for long periods of time, but I owe it to the people who have to work in places where they come in frequent contact with the public, including grocery store clerks, the pharmacist where I pick up my medications, medical workers who take care of my son Danny when he lands in the ER for uncontrolled seizures, and many more. For people who cannot tolerate a mask for whatever reason, there are many alternatives to buying essential items that don’t involve in-person shopping. Even church services have been modified to ensure social distancing and safety.
Getting control of Covid-19 has dragged on for far too long. When it appears that there is no end in sight, the danger is in giving up and giving in to a wildly out of control pandemic. We deserve better than that and the control of the virus is still within our grasp while we wait for vaccines, better treatments, and cures.
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