With COVID-19 cases expected to rise, should I go back to wearing a mask? This is what the experts say

We are in the “Omicron era” of the COVID-19 pandemic, as infectious disease specialist Isaac Bogoch puts it.

The newest sublineages of the Omicron variant, BQ.1/BQ1.11 and BA.2.75.2, are extremely transmissible and are driving new infections across Canada, Bogoch said.

When it comes to efforts to prevent the spread of the variant, some data suggests that wearing a mask may reduce the rate of COVID-19 infections at the community level, the specialist told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview.

“But in the Omicron era, we’re seeing some weakening of that data, which means there’s not a lot of wiggle room in the Omicron era.”

By “wiggle room,” he means that many people will get infected even with masks for protection and with multiple doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

With mandates falling across the country, people are making their own decisions about whether to wear a mask. This, combined with what is already a highly transmissible variant, means more infections are likely, Bogoch said.

In the past two years, cases of the rapidly mutating disease increased during the fall months, with many requiring hospital treatment.

This fall, experts say, will be different.

The number of cases is still expected to increase, but most people who test positive for COVID-19 no longer have severe symptoms.

Recent data from the Government of Canada shows that there are fewer patients in intensive care units this fall than in the same period last year. Even fewer people are now on ventilators.

The reason for this is largely due to vaccines and natural antibodies to the disease, Bogoch explained.

Canada’s COVID-19 Immunity Task Force estimates that between December 15 and July 15 at least 18.2 million Canadians were infected with COVID-19, but experts say it’s hard to know how accurate that is. that estimate.

“The actual number of newly infected (or reinfected) Canadians may have been higher because some people infected early in the Omicron phase of the pandemic no longer have detectable anti-N antibodies,” the task force website reads.

Despite the anticipated rise in cases this fall, infectious disease specialist Sumon Chakrabarti said there is no reason to panic, even for many protective measures.

“I don’t think you have to do anything specifically this winter to avoid respiratory viruses,” Chakrabarti, who works at Trillium Health Partners in Mississauga, Ontario, said in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Tuesday. “If you are otherwise healthy, you have immunity, either from the vaccine or from previous COVID. You should do what you did in 2018.”

Chakrabarti means that people should act as they would before the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the past, rising COVID-19 cases have prompted strict lockdown orders and festive Zoom gatherings, but Chakrabarti said despite high transmission, Omicron’s latest strain is weak and most people who get an infection do not get seriously ill.

“Omicron itself is much milder, and in fact, if you look at it, it actually has a lower fatality rate than influenza,” Chakrabarti said.

Chakrabarti has been treating COVID-19 patients at Mississauga Hospital since April 2020, so he has seen what the situation was like at the start of the pandemic, when patients he described as “relatively healthy” and middle-aged needed ventilators. compared to what it has been. like in recent months, when few people are extremely sick.

“Even the older people, the average age of people who come in with COVID, are usually over 80 years old,” he said. “And even they get better and go home.”

If someone is infected with COVID-19, says Chakrabarti, the symptoms they experience that are similar to a bad cold mean their immune system is “activated.”

“The symptoms that he’s having (that) punch him in the butt, they’re coming from his immune system, they’re not coming from the virus,” he said. “You feel like crap for a couple of days, and then you can do better.”

Chakrabarti can appreciate that there are people who are worried about getting COVID-19, especially those with certain health conditions.

For them, he recommends wearing a mask.

But he said he no longer recommends masks for most of his patients, as long as they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19.

“These are all preventative things,” he said. “I think it is very important that this is not the advice that I give to the general population. I think if you’re young and healthy… I don’t think you’re going to do anything different this winter than you did any other winter, excluding of course 2020 and 2021.”

Bogoch echoed the same steps, saying the risk of transmission is lower, even with the highly transmissible Omicron variant, when wearing a mask. He said this should be done for indoor environments in particular.

“Think about the three Cs: crowded, confined and closed environments are where most of the COVID is transmitted,” Bogoch said.

The best masks, both experts agree, are surgical or KN95. Bogoch says that he should remember the two F’s when finding a suitable mask: fit and filtration.

Chakrabarti also highlighted what those who have COVID-19, or any other disease, should do.

“If you feel sick, then stay home,” he said. “Once you feel better, the fever is gone, or the symptoms improve, you can come back. I think that’s just general courtesy.”

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