Marinscope
As the COVID-19 pandemic officially comes to a close in Marin, one question remains for many – should you still mask-up, or not?
Before addressing that issue, it should be noted that in Marin one big change has taken place. The county in its weekly updates is no longer counting individual cases as its primary measure. Instead, Marin County Public Health uses wastewater (sewage) to monitor local virus activity.
The current data from the website shows virus levels in six wastewater collection sites, which cover about 85% of the Marin population, and a composite measure of all sites combined. Samples are collected 1-3 times per week and the chart is updated weekly.
You can view the data here: https://coronavirus.marinhhs.org/surveillance
So, should you still wear a mask?
Officially, masks are no longer mandated in public. But on Twitter, Dr. Bob Washter, the chair of medicine for UCSF, says that he’ll be masking up under certain circumstances, possibly forever.
He says he’ll only wear a “good” mask – KN95 – and do so in certain circumstances. For example, when going to a crowded grocery store, he’ll keep his mask on. But in a less crowded store for a quick shopping trip, he won’t bother.
He told the San Francisco Chronicle that at 65, healthy, fully vaccinated and boosted, and so far COVID-free, he said he wants to “live life fully” and is now comfortable dining out indoors with family and friends or going to small indoor gatherings, so long as cases are low. With his 87-year-old mother in Florida he’ll be more cautious and eat outdoors.”
Wachter’s advice is also echoed by other Marin and Bay Area health experts. It’s Ok to take more risks now, they say, but there’s nothing wrong with continuing to mask-up in crowded public spaces.
And, a good mask is key. The N95 or KN95 masks are proven affection. But homemade masks are ineffective.
Other infectious disease experts in the Bay Area say they still carry a mask at all times, and make a judgment call on whether to put it on when he enters certain situations.
Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease expert at UCSF who is fully vaccinated and boosted, told the San Francisco newspaper last week that “I feel comfortable going indoor dining, flying on planes (which are well ventilated) and grocery shopping without a mask. I have full confidence in the COVID-19 vaccines and think they are miraculous!”
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