I’m an emergency room doctor, so it’s time to start wearing masks again… as experts issue dire warnings about a virulent new Covid variant

It’s that time again. No, I don’t mean New Years and resolutions: I mean mask time.

I can hear the general groan. But if you want to get through the winter without a nagging cough that rumbles through your chest day and night (you know, the one that makes the rounds at the office or the supermarket) or that nagging pain throughout your body, wherever? Your hair hurts, wear a mask.

I always carry one in crowded places, but on a short flight back in the fall I forgot to bring one. The plane was full of coughs and not surprisingly a few days later I started to feel sick with what turned out to be a four week viral illness.

It coincided with a long-awaited knee operation that almost had to be canceled because people with coughs chose not to wear masks and instead spread their virus droplets to the rest of us.

Luckily I was able to get around the corner just in time – the operation went ahead – but since then I have never forgotten my mask.

Now one of Britain’s leading experts, Sir Andrew Pollard, professor of infection and immunity at the University of Oxford, is predicting “a surge in infections.” [Covid] “Infections in the population next week” caused by a highly contagious virus strain called JN.1.

With Covid-19 cases and viral infections on the rise as we head into the holidays, one might think that masks could play a big role in keeping us safer.

Because despite the confusion over the pandemic mask message caused by the government and its senior advisers (then deputy chief medical officer, Jenny Harries), in March 2020 Boris Johnson in video chat video no. be. ), the consensus is now clear: masks help prevent the spread of infections by droplets as well as viruses and bacteria.

An article published in the BMJ in May 2020 on a retrospective study of 335 people found that masks were 79 percent effective in reducing transmission from infected people to others.

They also prevent you from getting infected with viruses – a February 2021 study in the Journal of Medical Devices and Sensors found that “wearing all types of masks correctly…”[s] reduce and increase the overall risk of Covid-19 infection[s] General protection against the coronavirus.

A study found that masks were 79 percent effective in reducing transmission from infected people to others (Photo)

A few weekends ago I was in the ER returning to clinical work (my PhD) after a break. The last time I was there was two winters ago, during the second wave of Covid.

When I walked into the emergency room, it was as if time stood still; People screened for viral infections, many of whom test positive, and patients with respiratory problems brought in by ambulance – many of whom are elderly and vulnerable.

It brought back painful memories and my legs felt the same feeling of weakness as when I looked after my father who was struggling to breathe due to Covid-19. I took care of him for five days until he died.

This time it wasn’t just Covid-19: today we’re dealing with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza, adding to the cocktail of viruses around us and overloading the emergency rooms.

And the numbers confirm it; According to recent figures, the number of patients visiting their GP for flu-like illnesses increased by 19 per cent in the week of December 11-17 compared to the previous week, while hospital admissions for flu increased by 77 per cent.

In the week from 11 to 17 December, the number of patients who visited their GP for flu-like illnesses increased by 19 per cent compared to the previous week. (stock photo)

In mid-December, Mary Ramsay, director of public health programs at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), warned: “Flu numbers are starting to rise, so get your vaccine now to stay strong through the winter,” she said. t socializes with others when she is not feeling well, but did not mention masks.

In contrast, the US equivalent of the UKHSA – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – says in its flu prevention advice that infected people “should wear a mask to protect others, but a mask can also protect the wearer.”

And now Covid-19 is in the news again: 4.2 percent of the population – equivalent to 2.5 million people – tested positive in England and Scotland on December 13, compared to 1.8 percent at the end of November.

Just days before these figures were published, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that JN.1, a new “variant of concern” from Omicron, had been classified – likely to be the strain that would cause the rise in numbers predicted by Professor Pollard .

A February 2021 study in the Journal of Medical Devices and Sensors found that “correct wearing of all types of masks…”[s] “The general risks of Covid-19”

Its rapid spread is prompting the WHO to introduce “universal mask requirements in health facilities” and “provide ventilators and other personal protective equipment for health workers caring for suspected and confirmed Covid-19 patients.”

Singapore’s Ministry of Health said in a press release on December 15 that it “strongly encourages the public to wear a mask in crowded places, even when they are not sick, especially indoors or when visiting or interacting with vulnerable people .”

People who feel unwell and have symptoms of Covid or other respiratory infections are also strongly advised to wear a mask when going outside.

Meanwhile, in the UK, Professor Steven Riley, director-general of data and surveillance at the UKHSA, said people with respiratory illnesses, including Covid, should limit contact with others, especially older or vulnerable people. But he wasn’t talking about masks.

I find it remarkable that the Singapore government distributed more than nine million masks to its 5.6 million residents during the pandemic, giving each household access to four reusable masks.

Infection rates and deaths in Singapore – during the pandemic and now – have been much lower than ours. The economy was not hit in the same way either.

Steven Riley, director general of data and surveillance at UKHSA, said people with respiratory illnesses, including Covid, should limit contact with others, especially older or vulnerable people.

In Asia, masks have long been accepted as a mutually protective act of social respect within the community. Its use – particularly in Japan, China and Taiwan – predates Covid-19 and dates back to the 1950s to protect against pollution. Consumption increased in 2002 after the region’s deadly acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak.

According to organizations such as Our World in Data, an open-access online publication focused on global health issues, Covid death rates were as high as 42 times in the Asia-Pacific region, where masks were early worn by the entire population. than the UK, US and Europe, in each quarter from 2020 to January 2021.

In Taiwan, the infection rate was one case per 54,000 people – more than 100 times lower than in the West.

Its success is widely attributed to the pandemic response’s non-pharmaceutical interventions, including the wearing of masks. A 2021 article in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases noted the widespread early use of surgical masks as part of Taiwan’s arsenal against Covid and how we can get by without a lockdown. By contrast, Britain imposed three lockdowns as both infections and deaths soared.

As a result of its SARS experience in 2003, the Taiwanese government began early to coordinate the supply and distribution of masks. The mask requirement was only lifted last April. They are still needed in medical facilities.

Despite success with infection control in countries such as Taiwan and WHO advice, no one from NHS England, the UKHSA or the government is recommending compulsory mask wearing in healthcare settings – even as Covid rates rise.

In a Daily Mail letter dated 20 December 2023 to Dame Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer for England, Patricia Marquis, Director of the Royal College of Nursing for England, called for an urgent review of national infection prevention and control. Guidance on the wearing of universal masks and respirators by healthcare workers in accordance with WHO endorsed guidelines. Similar letters were also sent to the head sisters of Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

As it stands, there is a risk that the number of Covid cases and other respiratory illnesses among staff and patients will increase if NHS England does not follow WHO advice during this current peak. We seem to have learned nothing.