Boston doctor urges Biden administration to call for better masks

Boston doctor urges Biden administration to call for better masks

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Dr Abraar Karan continues his call to make higher quality masks widely available to the public to better protect against them COVID-19.

Karan, a doctor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, campaigned for a citizen high filtration mask program in the United States, medical masks such as N95s will be distributed to households across the country. The doctor says more effective masks is an important way to prevent the spread of COVID-19, especially since a more contagious variant of the virus is common.

On Wednesday, Karan addressed his message to newly inaugurated President Joe Biden and his administration.

“We trust you – I am very hopeful that this government will get it,” Karan wrote on Twitter. ‘Gain #BeterMasks to this country. We will benefit from it # covid19; against other respiratory pathogens such as seasonal flu; against bioterror threats. ”

The doctor pointed to European countries making the switch to more effective masks, citing increasing infections of the strain of the B117 virus, which was first detected in the UK and is believed to spread more easily. Germany made it mandatory on Tuesday for people driving public transportation or in other public places to wear medical-style masks such as N95s or surgical masks.

Health officials stressed for months the importance of wearing masks prevention of the spread of COVID-19.

On Tuesday, researchers shared the results of a survey on the impact of masked behavior among more than 300,000 Americans and published its publication study in “The Lancet. ”

John Brownstein, an epidemiologist of infectious diseases and head of innovation at Boston Children’s Hospital and one of the authors of the study, wrote that he and his colleagues found that there was a 10 percent increase in the use of masks in a community with more than 10 associated. than three times better chance of reducing virus transmission.

“Mask mandates alone were not sufficient to increase the wearing of the mask,” Brownstein wrote on Twitter. “Mask wear layered with social distance has yielded the greatest likelihood of transmission control.”

Karan praised the new research for its importance in illustrating that “masks work.”

A mask makes an individual a “dead end” for the virus, especially if it is a mask with “excellent protection”, Karan wrote.

Medical-grade masks, especially those that offer higher filtration and better fit, are ‘undeniable’, the doctor said. said.

“If you have [the virus], you will be much less likely to send it out; “If you are there, you are much less likely to get it,” he said. ‘And as we eventually adapt our vaccines in the future to adapt to new varieties and strains, our return measures will continue to be masks. We need to make sure we get the absolute best we can get. This is our health. There may be no compromises here! ”

In the hours after his inauguration, Biden takes a number of immediate actions to address the COVID-19 pandemic, including the use of masks and social distance on federal property. On Thursday, the president will be expected to sign a mask order applicable to airports, aircraft, ships, buses, trains and public transport.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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