Wearing a mask definitely additionally protects. We continue to wear mask in closed spaces (offices, restaurants etc.) even when the covid cases are low with the hope that in the near future we would relax wearing the mask, knowing well that perhaps the cases will only increase.
Take the case of cities where the daily new covid cases are low – we are wearing the mask when we could have avoided (as the daily new cases are low) and restarted wearing the masks in near future when the cases would go up. The fear of the rise of cases if masks are not worn makes us wear the mask, and masks will continued to be worn when cases actually go up. This means the question of us not wearing the mask till pandemic is declared as over should not arise.
In reality, what we are doing is wearing the mask when we could have avoided it, and waiting to de-mask in the near future when the cases would actually rise – and that to me is ‘the mask paradox’.
Wearing a mask is not a burden; it is something real – it is your last line of defense even after you are fully vaccinated and maintaining physical distancing.
So when will we lower the mast on mask? The mask may go off the face earliest by 2023 or as and when the pandemic is declared as over by the authorities. Will vaccination influence the time when will we de-mask? Unlikely, because even after vaccination the breakthrough infections* are on the rise necessitating the use of mask. *Breakthrough infections are infections that occur in fully vaccinated individuals.
The mask will go off only when the virus causing covid will exhaust its capability to mutate, something that only time will tell. That is the time when new cases still happen but are lesser in numbers and milder in intensity, like that of seasonal influenza in USA which in 2017-18 had 45 million people make medical visits, of which 800,000 were hospitalized leading to 61,000 deaths; most of them being adults. The situation of covid is nowhere near the seasonal influenza statistics just mentioned.
We are wearing the mask now when the cases are less (to avoid spread of covid) and will wear the mask when the cases increase (to prevent getting covid).
Ventilation and physical distancing limits the inhalation of virus, mask obstructs the virus, and vaccination suppresses the infection.
The increase in number of daily cases in countries where fully vaccinated population was over 50% only shows the significance of mask, because there are always going to be pockets of unvaccinated people who will contribute to the increase in numbers.
When we make the viruses move (they don’t move on their own), they also mutate and it is these mutated virus have the potential to infect even a vaccinated individual as that is their survival tactics, and we should be aware of it, and hence, the last line of defense (mask) should not be discarded just to look good or feel comfortable.
Wearing a mask is not a burden; it is something real – it is your last line of defense even after you are fully vaccinated and maintaining physical distancing.
Remember, ventilation and physical distancing limits the inhalation of virus, mask obstructs the virus by creating a physical barrier, and vaccination suppresses the infection. All these are necessary to be protected by the assault of the virus.
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