Protective Clothing and Gear
A Clunky, Reusable Mask May Be the Answer to N95 Waste
“Elastomerics for us really were a game changer,” Dr. Chalikonda said. “When I think of all the millions of dollars wasted on N95s and then trying to reuse them makes you realize how much elastomerics are a missed opportunity.” Federal health officials say they are moving as fast as possible to produce stronger guidance on […]
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Concerns Rise as Passenger Masks Fall
“If this becomes a precedent, that a judge can overrule government and C.D.C. experts, that puts us in a problematic place for the next surge, the next pandemic, bioterrorism or who knows,” Dr. Wachter said. “Government needs to be able to act, and to imply government does not have that authority is deeply concerning.” He […]
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Does My Mask Protect Me Against Covid-19 If Others Don’t Wear One?
If I’m the only person wearing a mask on a plane or subway train, in a store or at another indoor location, am I really protected from infection? It’s true that masks work best when everyone around you is wearing one. That’s because when an infected person wears a mask, a large percentage of the […]
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How to Prepare for BA.2, the Omicron Subvariant
The next wave of Covid-19 is coming, and in some parts of the United States, it’s already here. Are you ready? The culprit this time is BA.2, a subvariant of the highly infectious Omicron variant. Nobody knows for sure how much havoc it will cause, but BA.2 has already led to a surge of cases […]
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New Vaccine Findings Pose Tough Questions for Parents of Young Children
For American parents, particularly those with young children, the last couple of months have been dizzying and beyond frustrating. In early February, federal regulators announced that they would evaluate Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine for the youngest children — only to scrap that plan 10 days later, citing doubts about the vaccine’s effectiveness in that age group. […]
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How to Decide if You Should Still Wear a Mask
As masking mandates lift and new coronavirus infections fall across the United States, there’s lots of confusion about if, and when, to wear a mask. “This is the hardest thing of all, because it’s not just the risks and benefits to you,” said Dr. Robert Wachter, a professor and the chair of the medicine department […]
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When Can We Stop Wearing Masks?
Amid the turmoil of the last two years — a period that included a deadly pandemic, mass layoffs, an ugly presidential election and an attack on the United States Capitol — some of the fiercest political debates in America have been waged over a nearly weightless piece of fabric: the face mask. American officials were […]
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