Wearing a mask to avoid COVID-19 is crucial, Dr. Preeti Malani said.
Malani, the chief health officer and professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor as well as an associate editor of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), provided information on masks in a JAMA article published Aug. 7.
She talked with senior news writer Sara Berg about the latest information on the coronavirus, which has been linked to more than 21 million cases and 730,000 deaths worldwide, including more than 165,000 Americans.
Malani also revealed the questions she hears from her patients. They want to know more about masks, how to best use them and how effective they are, she said. The evidence is now clear: Wearing a mask is effective, safe and smart.
“This is a simple way to prevent respiratory droplets from going into the air and landing on other people,” Malani said. “When we talk or cough, we create droplets, and so the cloth-based covering can help keep the droplets from traveling. There’s an increasing body of evidence that suggests this is a really important way to reduce spread."
She said people need to consider if they want to wear masks around family members and if children and the elderly should don masks. That is a difficult matter to judge, Malani said, and is best handled on a case-by-case basis.
"It's better to be safe," she said.
Still, kids need to play with their friends. Malani suggested they do so in one-on-one settings.
She also said people should be cautious about going to gyms, should avoid large crowds, even in outdoor gatherings, and continue to wash their hands, exercise social distancing – and wear masks.
