Omicron FAQ: How long does COVID-19 last in the room? Are cloth masks safer? Can I reuse N95 masks?

As the pandemic continues, scientists and epidemiologists are usually overwhelmed or anxious about doing something as they learn new information about COVID-19 and get continuously updated guidance. It is about.

Much of that guidance revolves around what we currently know about the variants of Omicron behind the recent surge across the United States.Sacramento County Martin Luther King Jr. broke hospitalization record over the weekendAs of January 17, 570 people in the county were hospitalized with COVID-19, exceeding the 518 reported on December 20, 2020 during the first winter surge of the pandemic.

The Omicron variant was first identified in November and by December overtook the Delta variant as the cause behind the majority of COVID-19 cases in the country.

Dr. Kirsten Bibbins Domingo, Dean of Epidemiology, University of California, San Francisco, said: Biostatistics. She also University of California, San Francisco COVID-19 Community Public Health Initiative..

Bibbons-Domingo talked with CapRadio about how COVID-19 (especially Omicron variants) spreads. Masks provide the best protection from viruses. There are also other questions to consider to be safe with this latest wave.

She also discussed her approach to deciding which activities are safe for her during the Omicron surge. here..

This interview was edited for length and clarity.

What have we learned about how COVID-19 spreads since the pandemic began? Why does Omicron spread so quickly?

COVID is a virus that spreads in the air. One of the reasons we think Omicron is more infectious and easier to move from person to person is that it appears to be preferentially in your nose, mouth and upper respiratory tract. I don’t seem to like spreading to cells deep in the lungs. Both are probably a little better reason to go from one person to another.

Not so much in the lungs, [that] May be the reason [that] For many, it does not cause as much pneumonia or anything that takes you to the hospital. … But because it spreads in the air, it is notoriously better at moving from person to person, and is probably one of the most efficient viruses that many have seen, at least in their lifetime.

When the pandemic started, when we knew very little about the virus, we had to scrub when we delivered the pizza box home, or someone [who tested positive] I was touching something, so I had to worry about touching the surface. It’s probably not a very useful way to think about viruses. Much more useful is to think of droplets from a positive person, or very fine droplets hanging in the air of an unventilated room.

I think the idea of ​​viruses is useful because it helps to understand why masks are more important than disinfecting the surface. It’s also that what we can do to help is not only what we do personally, but also what we do to rooms and buildings, and to our space to keep them safer. Make us all understand that there is. It has a lot to do with ventilation.

How long can COVID-19 droplets stay in the room?

Generally, these are [COVID-19 droplets] It is not a droplet that has remained in the air for a very long time. But part of the reason we worry about unventilated rooms and know that ventilation is important, we need to think of these as very fine droplets hanging in the air for a period of time. Because.

I’m generally not worried that what happened in the room 30 minutes ago would be dangerous to me. But if I were really in a non-circulating environment … you can’t be completely sure.

When I enter the room, I’m not nervous about who was in the room in front of me.

But whenever I’m in a poorly ventilated room, I’m nervous about people on the other side of the room, or far farther than I generally think. The air there isn’t circulating in a way that was really designed to keep me safe. Those virus particles are a kind of hanging in the air.

How likely is COVID-19 to enter through a car or apartment vent?

I don’t think it’s a high place that makes me feel uneasy. I would like to stay in the circulating air in a well-ventilated place as much as possible.

I have one of these very modern office buildings. It is a very large office building with lots of outdoor space but little external ventilation. The main thing we did to improve ventilation was to actually take in air from the outside and recirculate it. Over time, I’ve come to trust how important building ventilation is, how important masks are, and how important additional things like HEPA filters are. Those who have just documented.

Tracking how a virus is transmitted to anyone is notoriously very difficult in practice. When we hear of these anecdotal concerns that something might come in through the vents, they are actually in the context of a place where the air is not recirculated. It’s an event that doesn’t actually circulate new air into the building, rather than coming in from the outside, and the air is just more stagnant there.

How can I make a cloth mask safer if I don’t have access to the N95 or surgical mask?

To be completely honest with you, it’s hard to make a cloth mask safer.

Thinking about the spectrum, what I want [for] Those who want to be the most cautious, or the ones I’m most worried about, will have something wrong with them if they sign up for Omicron, I want them to have an N95. Without it, I’m worried that I’ll spend a lot of time with other people at a time when community folklore is as active as it is now.

Then the way to improve the surgical mask with some filtration is to actually improve the fit.What we advised in case people are inaccessible [to a N95] Wear a cloth mask over the surgical mask as it fits snugly on your face. In addition, you can get some of the benefits of surgical mask filtration.

If you really can’t find one of the best categories for filtration, you’re probably doubling the cloth mask.

But with Omicron out there, it’s important to realize that cloth masks alone aren’t a sufficient barrier if you’re spending more than a few minutes with someone who doesn’t know who’s infected.

Would you like to wear a cloth mask without a mask? absolutely.

But in this Omicron environment, I think it really has to be said. There are two things involved: covering the nose and mouth and filtering the air. That’s what the Surgical Mask and N95 do. And by fitting the mask to the face, the N95 performs much better than a surgical mask.

Can I reuse N95 masks?

These N95s are reusable, so if you find one, you can use it once and not throw it away. As long as they are clean, you can keep them.

It is important that we talk about Omicron. We are in a situation that is very likely to be a limited surge. The surge will occur over the next few weeks. There are so many Omicrons in the air right now, but if you really want to reduce your chances of getting Omicrons, you should use the best possible mask.

Even if it’s hard to find, I won’t give up. If I can find the box and keep it for use at the most dangerous times, that’s what I do. In particular, you can get out of this peak from the end of January to February.

This guide Learn more about how to choose the best N95 mask for you, including where to buy it and make sure it’s not fake.

You can find a free community walkup test site in Sacramento here Order 4 Free COVID-19 Tests (1 Order per Household) from the United States Postal Service here..