VIDEO: The case for continued masking in health care settings
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As the United States settles into the endemic phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, health care professionals should continuously evaluate whether masking is necessary and under what circumstances, according to an expert.
Eric J. Chow, MD, MS, MPH, chief of communicable disease epidemiology and immunization at Public Health — Seattle & King County and a clinical assistant professor of epidemiology and allergy and infectious diseases at the University of Washington, told Healio that COVID-19 continues to pose a threat to both patients and health care workers, but people in the community no longer take the precautions they once did.
“Although we're in a much different place now than where we once were when COVID-19 first emerged, severe health outcomes caused by COVID-19 are still occurring, especially among those at high risk, such as those who are 65 years and older, those with chronic diseases and immunocompromising conditions, as well as those who experience inequities in health care,” Chow said.
Regardless of the public’s response, though, health care facilities have a responsibility to put the safety of patients and its workers first, Chow said.
“Now, there are many people with patients and health care workers who are at high risk for health complications in these settings, and furthermore, preserving the health of providers is a priority given ongoing national shortages in the health care workforce that has only been exacerbated by the pandemic,” Chow said.
Now that we “have a greater appreciation for the adverse health outcomes associated with respiratory viral infections,” Chow said that “rather than returning to our suboptimal pre-pandemic approaches, we should be integrating our lessons learned into our health care practices.”
In a recent opinion piece published in Annals of Internal Medicine, Chow and colleagues argued that health care facilities can take a range of approaches to masking, including universal masking year round; in specific settings; during certain months when respiratory viruses are at their peak; or when community transmission hits a certain threshold.