Yes, many mask mandates are ending in the United States as COVID-19 cases continue to drop — but there’s still a pandemic.
Some health experts say you should keep your face masks for a few reasons, even if they aren’t required in most places.
“People should hold on to their masks and KN/N95 respirators. The pandemic may be easing up in most areas of the U.S., but we’ve been here before,” Dr. Sheela Shenoi, an infectious disease doctor and assistant professor at Yale School of Medicine, told McClatchy News in a statement.
The advice comes as masking up while indoors in public isn’t recommended in more than 90% of the country as of March 3, since most people live in a location with a low or medium COVID-19 Community Level, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
‘“Dropping mask restrictions does not mean people should not wear masks in any situation — they should interpret these rules as ‘mask optional,’” Dr. Karen Jubanyik, an emergency care doctor and associate professor at Yale School of Medicine, told McClatchy News in a statement.
Here’s what experts advise as COVID rules change
On March 7, the World Health Organization said “the virus continues to evolve and the risk of future emergence of variants is high.”
Dr. Thomas Russo, an infectious disease doctor and professor and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Buffalo, told McClatchy News over the phone that vaccination and masking are the two most important things you can do amid the pandemic.
Certain individuals “should strongly consider wearing masks,” the professor said.
He advises continued masking for people who are: unvaccinated; immunocompromised; vaccinated but aren’t up to date on the shots; 50 and older; living with significant underlying disease; or pregnant.
If you’re living in the same house with any of those groups mentioned, Russo also advises wearing a mask.
“Behavior should be dictated not only by what you feel is best for you, but what’s best for others,” Russo said.
Jubanyik said there’s “still a decent amount of COVID-19 in some communities,” which the CDC’s map highlights.
The Yale professor described working in a Connecticut emergency room, where health professionals care for immunosuppressed patients, a few days ago and pointed out how the state has a high amount of fully vaccinated residents.
“After relatively few cases over a week or two, we just had more than a few COVID-positive patients,” Jubanyik said. Some of these patients entered the emergency room for reasons other than COVID-19 but ended up testing positive.
“Most COVID + patients will not necessarily have significant COVID symptoms, so they are out and about and more likely to spread it to vulnerable people who can still get very ill … Even though no one HAS to wear a mask in most situations, some people should consider still doing so.”
Jubanyik said she wouldn’t “go to a large indoor sporting event or concert UNLESS (she) wore a mask” and that her “patient population is so tenuous that it would be irresponsible to potentially expose them.”
“For people who have loved ones at home that fall into a high risk category, based on what I saw in my own ER just a couple of days ago, I would be very careful about going into large groups indoors even now, unless I am wearing a mask,” she said.
Two weeks ago, Jubanyik said she went through a couple of ER shifts without seeing a COVID-19 patient, but she’s now “less confident that there are not a lot of people with asymptomatic” COVID-19.
Mask wearing during flu or cold season
“I for one will be wearing a mask in public places, like the grocery store, during respiratory virus seasons,” Shenoi told McClatchy News.
The professor said doing so generally “allows people a measure of control over their risk of infection” and is “helpful to those who are immunocompromised or particularly vulnerable to complications from respiratory viruses, such as the elderly.”
Dr. Jiaxing Huang, an adjunct professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University and a professor at Westlake University in China, told McClatchy News that he recommends people continue carrying masks.
Since “there are other infectious respiratory diseases that also transmit through droplets,” such as the flu and pneumonia, “it will be good to protect yourself when others around you are coughing, or to protect others if you start to cough.”
“This reduces the burden of our immune system, avoids it being over-powered, and protects yourself and others around you,” Huang said.
Ultimately, if you’re feeling ill, Russo said that it’s best to stay home, even from school or work, to avoid spreading an infection. If you do need to go out, such as to grab groceries, Russo said to “mask up.”
Mask shaming
“There are still people who need to or want to wear masks,” Jubanyik said.
Russo said he’s “a little worried” that “there may be some mask shaming out there and peer pressure” when it comes to wearing a mask when others aren’t. This is called one-way masking, as McClatchy News previously reported.
“You should respect everyone’s right to wear a mask if they choose to do so for whatever reason,” Russo said, adding that the reasons could be medical or psychological related to one’s comfort, “and all of that is absolutely fine.”
The professor pointed to the actions of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on March 2 as one recent example of mask shaming.
DeSantis asked high school students standing behind him at a news conference to “please” take off their masks, the Miami Herald reported.
“Honestly, it’s not doing anything and we gotta stop with this COVID theater. So, if you want to wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous,” DeSantis said.
Do masks expire?
Yes, masks do expire, except cloth masks that can be rewashed.
“Disposable surgical masks do expire because some of the materials degrade over time,” Dr. Carlos Oliveira, an assistant professor at Yale School of Medicine, told McClatchy News in a statement.
He advises looking for an expiration date that’s likely listed on the mask package.
Jubanyik said that the “life of a mask” depends on how it’s stored and that it should be kept in a place that’s between -4 and 86 degrees.
“Most masks have elastic which may have variable degradation, as will foam that might cover nose pieces, depending on storage conditions.”
An N95 typically has three to five years of shelf life, according to Jubanyik.
“It is likely that the ‘use-date’ if noted, is a conservative estimate if the mask has been properly stored,” she added. “If out of date, or no date is on the packaging, or there is no packaging, the main test would be as to whether the elastic is still effective in retaining its ‘elasticity.’”
Oliveira said that “although transmission of SARS-Cov-2 is currently low, it is likely that masks will be needed again in the winter months as immunity from vaccines and natural protection wanes and transmission increases.”
