Since symptoms-based policies alone cannot be perfect, we need to turn to other strategies to catch the people who slip through the gaps presented by a broad “If you’re feeling unwell, stay home”-type recommendation.
After months of saying that healthy individuals should not wear masks, administration officials are now considering guidance for much broader, community-wide use of masks, Fauci told CNN on Tuesday.
In an absence of an abundant supply of masks — which, by the way, also need to be worn properly to provide protection — both the WHO and CDC stressed how important social distancing was.
Not only can social distancing protect you as an individual, but the better the general public is at adhering to these guidelines and staying at home, the less virus will be circulating in the public to potentially infect paramedics, grocery store workers and public works employees and other essential staff.
Increasing the chance that the virus will be “diluted” is important.
That means workplaces like factories and warehouses should do whatever they can to space out their workers, and not have meetings en masse in indoor spaces, where droplets are likely to persist and don’t have a chance to be carried away by wind.
Testing is critical, because it can let people know if they’re sick before symptoms emerge and prompt them to self isolate.
At a big picture level, testing helps public health officials know where the disease is spreading and better allow them to direct resources and responses efforts.
The full article is available here
