Indoor gatherings have been ill-advised throughout the pandemic, but now experts are warning that they’re even more dangerous. During a Jan. 8 interview with NBC, Ashish Jha, MD, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said, “Indoor gatherings of any kind outside of your family bubble is risky, and the new variant makes it that much more so.” Jha added that indoor gatherings devoid of masks are “where things really get us into trouble.” Stuart Ray, MD, Vice-Chair of Medicine for Data Integrity and Analytics at Johns Hopkins Medicine, shared a similar sentiment. “We give the virus an advantage to evolve when we congregate in more confined spaces,” he explained. And for more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter. Although there is no new advice that applies explicitly to the new COVID variant, it does make the existing precautions more necessary than ever. “It doesn’t actually change the public health message. In fact, it just makes it that much more urgent that we do it,” Jha said. “The virus still transmits in the same way. The virus still transmits when people gather largely indoors and not wearing masks.” Ray added, “There is no demonstration yet that these strains are biologically different in ways that would require any change in current recommendations meant to limit spread of COVID-19.” And for more on the future of the pandemic, If You Take These OTC Meds, You Have to Stop Before Getting the Vaccine. In the face of the new COVID variant, Ray expressed that “we need to re-emphasize basic public health measures, including masking, physical distancing, good ventilation indoors, and limiting gatherings of people in close proximity with poor ventilation.” By ignoring these precautions, you make it easier for the virus to spread. And for more on this particular variant, Dr. Fauci Just Made This Scary Prediction About the U.K. COVID Strain. Jha feels that one precaution that could be improved is mask quality. “High-quality masks are really important,” he said. “We’ve not done much to make masks high quality—that’s something we still need to work on.“ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb The next time you’re replacing your mask, do your research to ensure it will protect you as much as possible. And for more on preventing the spread of COVID, If You’re Not Doing This, Your Mask Won’t Protect You, Study Says.
